Post concussional syndrome among Jordanian police and military personnel

Abstract EN

Objective : The frequency and severity of psychiatric symptoms in patients who sustained head injuries and the contribution of compensation to the severity and persistence of those symptoms were studied These patients were referred to the psychiatric clinic for the purpose of medical board classifications and from the neurology clinic for neuropsychological assessment.

Methods: A scale based on ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for post concussional syndrome was applied on 87 consecutive patients, who reported to the psychiatric clinic in a period of six months, to assess the intensity and frequency of psychiatric symptoms.

A semi-structured interview was conducted with all the participats.

The patients were divided into two groups ; the group with full syndrome composed of the individuals who scored above the cut-off value of IS on the post concussional syndrome scale and the group of individuals with limited syndrome who scored below the cut-off value of 15.

Results : There was an inverse relationship between the severity of the head injury measured by the duration of loss of consciousness and the severity of post concussion symptoms among the individuals in the subgroup with full syndrome (p < 0.001).

No relationship was found between the severity of the head injury and the severity of symptoms among the individuals in the subgroup with limited symptoms.

Conclusion: This study showed that the majority of the patients were unskilled non-commissioned officers who served just above 10 years (military personnel receive no or minimal compensation if they served less than 10 years).

It also showed an inverse relationship between the severity of the injury and the symptoms.

Those findings might indicate that the contribution of compensation into the severity and frequency of PCS symptoms is significant and the concept of compensation neurosis is probably a valid one.