PRECISIÓN DEL SIMS EN PACIENTES QUE HAN SUFRIDO UN ACCIDENTE DE CIRCULACIÓN / [DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF THE SIMS IN MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT PATIENTS]

Background / Objective . The SIMS is used in the medico-legal context to assess people who have suffered a traffic accident. This practice is problematic because, to date, no research has been published which validates the instrument for that population. Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate the ability of the SIMS to discriminate between educated simulators, general population and patients who have suffered a traffic accident. Method . A simulation design was used to evaluate a total of 536 subjects divided into the three groups mentioned. Two cutoff scores were used, 14 and 16. Results . The SIMS is able to discriminate between groups, being more effective in the comparison between malingerers and general population. Using the aforementioned cutoff scores, moderate sensitivity and moderate-high specificity are achieved in the comparison between simulators and patients, the values being slightly higher with the cutoff score of 14. Conclusions . The results indicate that the SIMS is not an adequate scale to perform a simulation screening in patients who have suffered a traffic accident. The instrument can be useful in the context studied, but it needs to be adapted to its particularities.