Malingering and PTSD: Detecting malingering and war related PTSD by Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST)

BMC Psychiatry

Jafar Mirzaee²  S Abbas Tavalaie¹  Mohammad Hassan Afzali³  Zeynab Lashani³  Khodabakhsh Ahmadi³ 

[1] Department of Psychiatry department, Baqiyatallah Hospital, Tehran, Iran;Sadr Hospital, Tehran, Iran;Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box: 19395–5487, Tehran, Iran

关键词: Combat disorder;    Malingering;    Miller forensic assessment of symptoms test (M-Fast);    Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);   

Others  :  1124039
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-13-154

 received in 2012-02-28, accepted in 2013-05-15,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Malingering is prevalent in PTSD, especially in delayed-onset PTSD. Despite the attempts to detect it, indicators, tools and methods to accurately detect malingering need extensive scientific and clinical research. Therefore, this study was designed to validate a tool that can detect malingering of war-related PTSD by Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST).

Methods

In this blind clinical diagnosis study, one hundred and twenty veterans referred to War Related PTSD Diagnosis Committee in Iran in 2011 were enrolled. In the first step, the clients received Psychiatry diagnosis and were divided into two groups based on the DSM-IV-TR, and in the second step, the participants completed M-FAST.

Results

The t-test score within two groups by M-FAST Scale showed a significant difference (t = 14.058, P < 0.0001), and 92% of malingering war-related PTSD participants scored more than 6 and %87 of PTSD group scored less than 6 in M-FAST Scale.

Conclusions

M-FAST showed a significant difference between war-related PTSD and malingering participants. The ≥6 score cutoff was suggested by M-FAST to detect malingering of war-related PTSD.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Ahmadi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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