The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Nov 2005
Comparative StudyEvaluation of the Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory as a depression screening tool after traumatic brain injury.
To examine the utility of the Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory (NFI) for diagnosing depression in a rehabilitation setting. ⋯ Findings indicate that the NFI items differentiated between depressed and nondepressed patients with TBI. Imposing minimal burden on patients and staff, the NFI appears to have good predictive value in diagnosing major depression. In clinical practice and research, the NFI is a potentially valuable screening tool for identifying major depression in persons with TBI.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Jul 2005
Comparative StudyMortality and morbidity from moderate to severe traumatic brain injury in Argentina.
After adopting the Guidelines for the Management of Severe Head Injury, critical care physicians in Argentina reduced the mortality rate of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, there is no in-hospital or postdischarge rehabilitation services for persons with TBI in Argentina. Thus, severely disabled survivors were being discharged to home without follow-up or long-term care. ⋯ TBI is a major public health concern in Argentina. However, rehabilitation for TBI is not a part of this country's medical system. The greatest proportion of expired patients in the Argentine sample died of secondary complications such as pneumonia or sepsis, which may have been avoided employing basic medical rehabilitation. The next research questions to be addressed in this population should be designed to identify solutions to the immediate need for rehabilitation, including treatment efficacy questions as well as questions about systems for delivering treatments.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Jul 2005
Executive function and self-awareness of "real-world" behavior and attention deficits following traumatic brain injury.
To investigate the relationship between executive function and awareness of real-world behavioral and attentional dysfunction in persons with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and uninjured controls. ⋯ Although executive function was associated with ISA in this sample, further research is needed to determine whether executive function deficits contribute in a causal fashion to ISA, and which of the cognitive operations within executive function are responsible for supporting self-awareness.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · May 2005
ReviewTracking the silent epidemic and educating the public: CDC's traumatic brain injury-associated activities under the TBI Act of 1996 and the Children's Health Act of 2000.
The Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1996 and the Children's Health Act of 2000 authorized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct several activities associated with traumatic brain injury. This article describes how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention responded to the legislation in 2 key areas: traumatic brain injury surveillance, and education and awareness.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · May 2005
Risk of posthospitalization mortality among persons with traumatic brain injury, South Carolina 1999-2001.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) negatively impacts long-term survival. However, little is known about the likelihood of death within the first year following hospital discharge. This study examined mortality among a representative sample of 3679 persons within 1 year of being discharged from any of 62 acute care hospitals in South Carolina following TBI and identified the factors associated with early death using a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model. The mortality experience of the cohort was also compared with that of the general population by using standardized mortality ratios for selected causes of death by age, adjusted for race and sex.