title: A randomized control trial to evaluate a paging system for people with traumatic brain injury.
abstract: Although memory problems following acquired brain damage are common, some people are able to compensate for these problems through external aids. It was recently demonstrated that a paging system could reduce the everyday memory and planning problems for people with non-progressive brain injury. The 143 patients who participated in the study comprised several diagnostic groups. This paper reports on the sub-group of people with TBI (n=63). This sub-group was part of the larger sample of 143 already published in the 2001 study. A randomized control cross-over design randomly allocated people to group A (pager first) or group B (waiting list first). Each participant chose their own tasks for which they needed reminders. During a 2 week baseline, successful task achievement was documented. Group A achieved 47.14% of tasks and group B 47.88%. People in group A then received a pager for 7 weeks. During the last 2 weeks of this 7 week period, task achievement was documented again. Group A now achieved 71.80% of tasks and group B (on the waiting list) achieved 49.05% (no different from baseline). Group A then returned their pagers and group B received pagers. During the last 2 weeks of this stage participants were monitored once more. At this point, people in group A had dropped back slightly but were still statistically significantly better than during the baseline (67.23%). Group B, meanwhile, were now achieving 73.62% of tasks. This was statistically significantly better than baseline and significantly better than group A, now in the post-pager phase. It is concluded that this paging system significantly reduces the everyday memory and planning problems of people with TBI.
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Hazel
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Emslie
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Quirk
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Watson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002648:Child; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D017010:Reminder Systems; D012656:Self-Help Devices