Soldiers Cheating on Brain Injury Tests

With highly motivated individuals, be they athletes, be they our service members in harm's way, there is a motivation to stay with the unit and stay on the job or stay in the game,"

So says Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Jaffee of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center on why soldiers cheat on brain injury tests.

The tests, administered by medics in the field, are the military's primary means of uncovering subtle signs of brain injuries from exposure to blasts. Reports of cheating began surfacing in Iraq during the summer, says Col. Brian Eastridge, a trauma surgeon who supervises medical care in Iraq and Afghanistan from his office in Baghdad.

Troops had obtained copies of an older version of the test and memorized key words used to gauge short-term memory, Jaffee says. Those who fail areas of the test undergo more sophisticated exams for diagnosing brain injury.

If symptoms persist, soldiers are sent home. If symptoms get better in days or a few weeks, patients can be sent back into combat, doctors say.

h/t WSJ Best of Web Today

Source:USA Today

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Tags: iraq war,troops cheat brain tests,combat injury