The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Jan 2014
Comparative StudySpecificity of postconcussion symptoms at 3 months after mild traumatic brain injury: results from a comparative cohort study.
To assess the specificity of symptoms included in various symptom lists used to identify postconcussion syndrome (PCS), by using follow-up data comparing patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and control patients during the month prior to injury and 3 months later. ⋯ The relevance of symptoms proposed to constitute PCS should be reviewed. A more specific definition of PCS would make diagnosis easier and facilitate prevention as well as treatment of patients with MTBI.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effect of injury diagnosis on illness perceptions and expected postconcussion syndrome and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.
To determine if systematic variation of diagnostic terminology (ie, concussion, minor head injury [MHI], mild traumatic brain injury [mTBI]) following a standardized injury description produced different expected symptoms and illness perceptions. We hypothesized that worse outcomes would be expected of mTBI, compared with other diagnoses, and that MHI would be perceived as worse than concussion. ⋯ In general, diagnostic terminology did not affect anticipated PCS symptoms 6 months after injury, but other outcomes were affected. Given that these diagnostic terms are used interchangeably, this study suggests that changing terminology can influence known contributors to poor mTBI outcome.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Jan 2014
Screening for postdeployment conditions: development and cross-validation of an embedded validity scale in the neurobehavioral symptom inventory.
To develop and cross-validate internal validity scales for the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI). ⋯ The NSI is widely used in the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs as a symptom-severity assessment following TBI, but is subject to symptom overreporting or exaggeration. This study developed embedded NSI validity scales to facilitate the detection of invalid response styles. The NSI Validity-10 scale appears to hold considerable promise for validity assessment when the NSI is used as a population-screening tool.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Jan 2014
Comparative StudyValidation of the quality of life after brain injury in Chinese persons with traumatic brain injury in Taiwan.
To determine the psychometric properties of the Quality of Life After Brain Injury (QOLIBRI) in Chinese persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Taiwan. ⋯ With modifications to the Emotions domain, the QOLIBRI would be suitable for use with Chinese people in Taiwan who have TBI.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Jan 2014
White matter integrity in veterans with mild traumatic brain injury: associations with executive function and loss of consciousness.
We investigated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and the association between white matter integrity and executive function (EF) performance in postacute mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). In addition, we examined whether injury severity, as measured by loss of consciousness (LOC) versus alterations in consciousness (AOC), is related to white matter microstructural alterations and neuropsychological outcome. ⋯ Findings suggest that altered white matter integrity contributes to reduced EF in subgroups of veterans with a history of mTBI and that LOC may be a risk factor for reduced EF as well as associated changes to ventral prefrontal white matter.