This study examined the application of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to the assessment of personality and emotional status in neurologic patients. Eighteen specialists in the clinical neurosciences examined the standard MMPI and indicated those items they felt were potentially tapping valid manifestations of neurologic damage or dysfunction. Forty-four items, loading primarily on the Hs, Hy, and Sc scales, were identified. These items were then deleted from the standard MMPI protocols of a heterogeneous group of 115 verified neurologic patients and the protocols rescored in the usual fashion. Corresponding high-points between the original MMPI and the modified version occurred in 46% of the cases. Comparable two-point code types occurred in only 29% of the cases. Taking into account the neurologic content of the MMPI can thus considerably alter the MMPI profile of a neurologic patient. Caution should thus be exercised with regard to the application and literal interpretation of the MMPI in neurologic cases.

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Principal-components analysis of 44 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory items previously identified as neurologic-related was performed using the protocols of a heterogeneous group of 115 patients with verified neurologic disorders. Four principal factors, accounting for 34% of the total variance, were extracted. The 1st factor was composed of items primarily tapping complaints of attention, concentration, or memory. It?ms primarily tapping neurologic or somatic complaints, various aspects of emotionality, and behavioral disturbance constituted the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th factors, respectively. These factors (neurobehavioral scales) discriminated between the neurologic patients and a group of 106 nonpatients 71% of the time. Consistent with previous studies, severity of cognitive deficit was significantly predictive of overall level of neurobehavioral dysfunction as defined by these scales.

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