Memory deficits, postconcussive complaints, and posttraumatic stress disorder in a volunteer sample of veterans

To better understand how memory impairment is related to postconcussive complaints and to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and whether these relationships remain after controlling for premorbid cognitive ability.

We examined memory impairment, premorbid cognitive ability, postconcussive complaints, and symptoms of PTSD in 205 veterans, 135 of who gave a self-reported history of concussion and exposure to a traumatic life event. We limited our sample to those who gave good effort on cognitive testing according to a symptom validity measure.

Although memory impairment was not associated with a history of concussion, it was associated with severity of postconcussive complaints. That association was no longer significant after controlling for premorbid IQ. A similar analysis yielded slightly different findings for PTSD. Memory impairment was associated with PTSD diagnosis, although it was not associated with severity of PTSD symptoms after controlling for premorbid ability.

These data are consistent with multifactorial models of the etiology of postconcussion disorder and PTSD such as the "burden of adversity hypothesis" described by Brenner, Vanderploeg, and Terrio (2009). In such models, symptom severity and course of recovery are determined not only by trauma severity but (also) premorbid risk factors and postonset complications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).