Detection and diagnosis of malingering in electrical injury

Abstract

This paper sought to demonstrate that diagnosable malingering does occur in Electrical Injury (EI) and examine the relationship of malingering to potential indicators of the presence and severity of neurological injury. Eleven consecutive EI patients seen for neuropsychological evaluation were presented. Over half the patients met the Slick et al. (1999) criteria for at least Probable MND. Most of the MND patients lacked evidence of a biologically meaningful exposure to electrical current. These findings highlight the importance of considering biological markers of neurological injury and of non-neurological factors, including effort/malingering, in the study of the neurocognitive consequences of EI.