title: Assessment of attention following pre-school traumatic brain injury: a behavioural attention measure.
abstract: This study investigated attentional impairments and recovery in pre-school children following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Children aged between 3-8 years were assigned to two groups on the basis of severity of injury: (i) mild TBI and (ii) severe TBI. Children were evaluated at the acute stage postinjury (0-3 months) and again at 6 months on a range of standardized intellectual and attention measures. In addition, a specifically developed behavioural attention measure was employed. Results revealed a tendency for children with severe injuries to exhibit greater attentional impairments in the acute phase post-injury. In addition, children who sustained a severe TBI demonstrated significant recovery in attentional functioning over time. Results indicated differential recovery rates for separate components of attention. Both groups demonstrated a trend towards recovery of arousal and motivation over time, while focused attention, impulsivity and hyperactivity remained stable.
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Department, New Children's Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Kathleb3@nch.edu.au
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bakker
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013997:Time Factors; D014743:Videotape Recording