Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory - NSI

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Created: January 12, 2026

Last Modified: January 12, 2026 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

The Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) is intended to measure postconcussion symptoms following traumatic brain injury (TBI). It was originally developed by Cicerone & Kalmar (1995) under the name "Post-Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Symptom Checklist" based on a structured interview version by Levin et al (1987). The scale was later renamed the NSI.

References

Cicerone, K. D., & Kalmar, K. (1995). Persistent postconcussion syndrome: The structure of subjective complaints after mild traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 10(3), 1–17.

Levin, H. S., Mattis, S., Ruff, R. M., Eisenberg, H. M., Marshall, L. F., Tabaddor, K.… Frankowski, R. F. (1987). Neurobehavioral outcome following minor head injury: A three center study. Journal of Neurosurgery, 66, 234–243.

Duration

5 minutes

Description

Self-report questionnaire with 22 5-point Likert Scale questions. Provides a cumulative total score.

Summary Data

File Name: nsi_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
computer.touch 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities
computer.hasKeyboard 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
totalScore Sum of all individual responses (Range: 0-88)

Raw Data

File Name: nsi.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
build Inquisit version number
q*_response Response given (in assigned values: 0-4)
0 = none
4 = very severe
(no reversed scored items)
q*_latency How much time in ms the participant spent on the surveyPage with this particular question (the last time this particular surveyPage was visited)

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
timeFrame The timeframe that participants should consider when answering the questions"IN THE LAST 2 Weeks"