Preinjury personality traits and the prediction of early neurobehavioral symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury

Objective: To determine if preinjury personality predicts early outcome in mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) compared with orthopedic injury (01). Study Design:, Participants and significant others (SO) completed preinjury personality and early postinjury symptom questionnaires. Setting: Inpatient hospital and outpatient follow-up. Subjects: Eighty-seven people with MTBI and 82 with OI. Outcome Measures- NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R); Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory (NFI). Results: Personality ratings and symptom endorsement were within normal limits. Concordance between self- and SO ratings was moderate (r greater than or equal to 50). In both groups, there were very modest associations between preinjury personality and early symptoms. Significant effects were primarily due to overlapping item-content between the personality and symptom questionnaires. Conclusions- Preinjury personality holds limited predictive value for MTBI outcome.