MEMORY PERFORMANCE AFTER HEAD-INJURY - CONTRIBUTIONS OF MALINGERING, LITIGATION STATUS, PSYCHOLOGICAL-FACTORS, AND MEDICATION USE

Impaired memory test performance can reflect a host of factors, such a s head injury/postconcussive syndrome, involvement in litigation, mali ngering behavior, psychological distress, and medication use. Such fac tors are important in interpreting memory test performances in patient s referred in the context of litigation. We examined memory test perfo rmance in mild head-injured patients in litigation, mild to moderate h ead-injured patients not in litigation, severely head-injured patients not in litigation, depressed patients, and patients with somatization disorders. Findings showed that several memory tests were useful in d istinguishing probable malingerers from the other groups. There was a complex interaction among malingering status, psychological status, an d medication use in the prediction of memory test results. Although no nneurological factors were related to memory impairment, litigation st atus alone was not predictive of memory performance. The results empha size the need to consider nonneurological factors in the interpretatio n of poor memory performance in patients seen for forensic evaluation.