Determining long-term symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury: Method of interview affects self-report

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To examine the role played by two interviewing methods used (spontaneous response and suggested response) in the evaluation of long-term subjective post-mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) symptoms. RESEARCH DESIGN: Cohort study. METHOD AND PROCEDURES: One hundred and eight adult participants were contacted for a follow-up telephone interview 12-36 months after their mTBI. The participants had to firstly spontaneously indicate symptoms that were still present following their mTBI (spontaneous response). Secondly, a list of symptoms was read to the participants and they had to say whether or not they were afflicted by each symptom (suggested response). Paired t-tests were performed to compare the means obtained using the two methods. The percentage of symptoms reported with the two interviewing methods were used to analyse symptom types. EXPERIMENTAL INTERVENTION: None. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Results show that participants reported significantly more symptoms and a given symptom when a list was read to the participants. Furthermore, neither the number of symptoms nor the type of symptoms reported is identical for the two interviewing methods. CONCLUSION: The interviewing method used influences the number and type of long-term post-mTBI symptoms reported by participants.