Validity of the clinical and content scales of the Multiphasic Personality Inventory Minnesota 2 for the diagnosis of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.
BACKGROUND
The use of the Multiphasic Personality Inventory Minnesota 2 (MMPI-2) for the diagnosis of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) is controversial. This study examines the validity of the clinical scales and, unlike previous works, the content scales.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study of 209 patients treated in the epilepsy unit. We performed a logistic regression analysis, taking video-electroencephalography as the reference test, and as predictor variables age, sex, IQ and clinical (model A) or content scales (model B) of the MMPI-2. The models were selected according to the Aikake index and compared using the DeLong test.


RESULTS
We analyzed 37 patients with PNES alone, or combined with seizures, and 172 patients with seizures only. The model consisting of sex, Hs (hypochondriasis) and Pa (paranoia) showed a sensitivity of 77.1%, a specificity of 76.8%, a percentage of correct classification of 76.8%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.836 for diagnosing CNEP. Model B, consisting of sex, HEA (health concerns) and FRS (fears), showed a sensitivity of 65.7%, a specificity of 78.0%, a percentage of correct classification of 75.9% and an AUC of 0.840. DeLong's test did not detect significant differences.


CONCLUSIONS
The MMPI-2 has a moderate validity for the diagnosis of PNES in patients referred to an epilepsy unit. Using content scales does not significantly improve results from the clinical scales.
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, España. Electronic address: adbarrio@ruberinternacional.es.
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del Barrio
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, España.
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Jiménez-Huete
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, España.
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Toledano
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, España.
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García-Morales
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, España.
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Gil-Nagel
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
Basic scales; Content scales; Crisis epilépticas; Crisis no epilépticas psicógenas; Escalas básicas; Escalas de contenido; Inventario Multifásico de Personalidad de Minnesota 2; Multiphasic Personality Inventory Minnesota 2; Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures; Seizures