“Good-old-days” bias: A prospective follow-up study to examine the preinjury supernormal status in patients with mild traumatic brain injury

Abstract

This study thus might be the first one to prospectively reveal the progression of the "good-old-days" bias in patients with mTBI.

The Nature and Clinical Significance of Preinjury Recall Bias Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

“…These Cohen d effect sizes, although limited by distribution skewing, are within the range of prior studies, which found small (0.23) to large (0.78) GB effects. [10][11][12]16,18 In summary, we found weak support for hypothesis 1.…”

“…16,18,24 Preinjury symptom reporting was moderately stable over time in our study. A similar number of participants in our full sample reported increased versus decreased preinjury symptoms from 6 weeks to 1 year postinjury.…”

“…Prior studies revealed that patients with MTBI retrospectively underestimate preinjury postconcussion-like symptoms, [10][11][12]16,18 suggesting a GB. When using the same methodology (ie, group mean comparisons), the present uncomplicated MTBI sample had a similar magnitude GB.…”

“…Longitudinal data are scant and conflicting as to whether the GB increases, 24 decreases, 16 or remains stable 18 following MTBI. Guided by concerns that the GB is causally related to the misattribution of preexisting symptoms to MTBI, early interventions have targeted the GB in an attempt to prevent chronic postconcussion symptoms.…”

“…Studies examining whether healthy people report fewer postconcussion-like symptoms in the past compared with current symptoms have produced mixed results. 10,16,[21][22][23] In summary, several mechanisms may contribute to the GB after MTBI. The best available evidence cannot differentiate between these possible mechanisms.…”