[Neuropsychological impairment in closed head injury. Relationship between objective and subjective deficit]

We have studied a group of patients who had suffered severe closed head injury. We have found that the presence of neuropsychological impairment was related with the duration of posttraumatic amnesia. The more frequent complaints were memory deficit, problems of attention and personality changes specially an increase in anxiety and aggressivity levels. All these impairments were confirmed by the neuropsychological assessment. We have found a strong relationship between the memory performance and the subjective complaints. We think that questionnaires exploring subjective complaints are useful in the neuropsychological evaluation of traumatic patients.