Number of items: 9
Testing: Sensory Organization Test (SOT) and Motor Control Test (MCT) on dynamic posturography
Criteria for suspecting malingering:
(1) The person performs better on Conditions 1 and 2 when unaware that anyone is watching (or they do much worse if they think someone is watching).
(2) The patient's performance on Conditions 1 and 2 (relatively easy) are markedly below normal.
(3) The patient does relatively better on Conditions 5 and 6 (more difficult for a person with true vestibular injury) than Conditions 1 and 2.
(4) The patient displays a circular sway without falling.
(5) The patient shows a high internal variability in all Sensory Organization Test (SOT) trials (never does the same thing twice = inconsistent).
(6) The patient repeatedly shows a suspiciously consistent sway pattern in all of the SOT trials.
(7) The patient shows exaggerated responses in the Motor Control Test (MCT).
(8) The patient shows inconsistent responses in the MCT.
(9) The observer has a "gut feeling" that the person is malingering.
where:
• A circular sway involves a lateral and anteroposterior motion occurring together.
• Things that are too inconsistent or too consistent should be looked at more closely.
total number of findings suspicious for malingering =
= the number of criteria present
Interpretation:
• minimum number: 0
• maximum number: 9
• A score >= 4 is suspicious for malingering and a score of 3 is borderline.
• A person with a score of 0 to 2 is assumed to legitimate.
