FAKING A PROFILE - CAN NAIVE SUBJECTS SIMULATE WHIPLASH RESPONSES

The psychological symptom checklist, the SCL-90-R (Derogatis 1983), ha s been used to assess patients with a number of chronic pain syndromes . For whiplash injury, a characteristic profile has been found (Wallis et al. 1995). However, there is still a belief that patients with nec k pain following whiplash injury may be malingering, and therefore the utility of the SCL-90-R as a screen for possible malingering is asses sed here. Forty pain-free university students were asked to simulate c hronic pain 6 months after a motor vehicle accident in order to ensure compensation. The SCL-90-R, McGill Pain Questionnaire and a visual an alogue pain scale were used. Students' scores were compared with those of a group of 132 whiplash patients (Wallis ct al. 1995). Differences between the two groups were striking; the students scored significant ly higher than patients on all subscales of the SCL-90-R and on the vi sual analogue pain scale (Mann-Whitney P-values all less than 0.001). However, pain scores for both groups on the McGill Pain Questionnaire were similar. The conclusion was that it is very difficult for an inge nuine individual to fake a psychological profile typical of a whiplash patient.