Abstracts

RATIONALE: The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is a relatively new self-administered, objective measure of adult personality that holds several practical and psychometric advantages over the MMPI-2. The use of the PAI to describe and differentiate NES and epileptic seizure (ES) patients has not been established. METHODS: PAI profiles of 8 NES patients were compared to the profiles of 10 ES patients. All profiles were judged to be valid based on the four PAI validity scales. The two groups were comparable in terms of age, education, gender, and received their respective diagnoses following a comprehensive inpatient video-EEG monitoring evaluation. RESULTS: Composite PAI clinical scale profiles of NES patients revealed a clinically significant elevation on the Somatic Complaints scale (SOM). The ES group showed no clinically significant elevations on the clinical scales. Univariate analyses revealed statistically higher mean T-scores for the NES group on the SOM scale as compared to the ES group (p = .006, d = -1.55). No other clinical scale comparisons between the two groups were significant. A discriminant function analysis was also calculated using the three subscales from the SOM scale (Conversion, Somatization, & Health Concerns) as predictors to determine accuracy of classification between NES and ES patients. Results revealed sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy to be 100%, 77%, and 83.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to these group data, the PAI appears to be a sensitive measure to discriminate NES from ES patients. Consistent with clinical observation and established research findings, the NES group evidences a pattern of somatization not replicated in the ES group. The PAI is likely a beneficial adjunct assessment tool in the diagnosis and treatment of NES.