The Influence of Medical Evaluation Board Status on Symptom Reporting Among Service Members with Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

A medical evaluation board (MEB) is initiated by command to determine whether a service member (SM) with medic al condition(s) is fit or unfit to perform his or her assigned duties. The results of MEB exams are evaluated to return the SM back to duty or to medically separate him or her. Because a MEB could result in a medical discharge from the military, some SM might diminish the severity of their symptoms out of fear of being discharged. Alternatively, SM might be influenced to exaggerate his or he r symptoms in order to receive more benefits. We examined whether MEB status of SM with traumatic brain injury (TBI) influenced scores on two measures of inflated symptom reporting: The Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) validity-10 index, which is composed of symptoms infrequently endorsed by patients with mild TBI, and the Mild Brain Injury Atypical Symptoms scale (MBIAS), which is composed of neurologically improbable symptoms following mild TBI.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 21, 2017
Accession Number
AD1037522

Entities

People

  • Douglas B Cooper
  • Jan E. Kennedy
  • Jennifer E. Tsagaratos
  • Lisa H. Lu
  • Matthew W. Reid

Organizations

  • San Antonio Military Medical Center

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Biomedical Research
  • Brain Injuries
  • Department Of Defense
  • Digital Information
  • Education
  • Intellectual Property
  • Laboratory Animals
  • Law
  • Materials
  • Military Medicine
  • Neurology
  • Professional Associations
  • Supervisors
  • Technical Information Centers
  • Test And Evaluation

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.
  • Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Medicine.