A rapid screen of the severity of mild traumatic brain injury.
This study investigated the sensitivity of information processing, recall and orientation tasks to the presence of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI). Fifty-six (40 male, 16 female) mTBI patients and 85 (57 male and 28 female) controls with orthopaedic injuries were tested within 24 hr of injury in the Department of Emergency Medicine. mTBI patients answered fewer orientation questions and recalled fewer words in delayed recall than orthopaedic patients. mTBI patients judged fewer sentences in 2 min than orthopaedic controls, and female mTBI patients judged fewer sentences than male mTBI patients. Male mTBI patients correctly recalled fewer words during immediate memory and learning than female mTBI patients and orthopaedic controls. Those mTBI patients with a history of previous head injuries did not perform more poorly than those mTBI patients without previous head injuries. These results indicate that tests of speed of information processing, word learning and orientation questions are sensitive to the acute effects of mTBI.
Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory, University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia. comerf@psy.uq.edu.au
Veronica Eileen
VE
Comerford
Gina Malke
GM
Geffen
Chris
C
May
Sarah Elizabeth
SE
Medland
Laurence Basil
LB
Geffen
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors