A preliminary normative profile of mild traumatic brain injury diagnostic criteria

This study investigated how mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) diagnostic a nd related variables present in a large, nonreferred MTBI sample. Participa nts were 119 adults with MTBI, drawn from consecutive admissions to two hos pital emergency wards. Within 3 weeks of injury, they were asked how the 19 93 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine MTBI diagnostic criteria an d related phenomena presented in their particular cases. Results showed tha t retrograde amnesia was not reported or was generally very brief; retrogra de amnesia was not reported unless posttraumatic amnesia was also reported; and the median ratio of posttraumatic amnesia to retrograde amnesia durati on, when both were reported, was 300:1. These and other data provide a prel iminary normative profile of such MTBI phenomena, and can help with differe ntial diagnosis of MTBI in individual cases.