title: Individual case analysis of processing speed difficulties in children with and without traumatic brain injury.
abstract: Two studies were conducted to determine the frequency of processing speed difficulties relative to estimates of other problem-solving abilities in children with and without traumatic brain injury (TBI). The two samples consisted of 213 normally functioning school-age children and 65 TBI children and 19 trauma controls. All children were administered the WISC-III/IV Vocabulary, Block Design, and Coding subtests. The frequency of children in each sample having a Coding subtest score of 3 or 4 scale points below the Vocabulary or Block Design score (whichever one was lower) was calculated. Using a 3-point scale difference, the presence of processing speed deficits relative to other cognitive abilities in the school sample was low (5.2%), and was equivalent to that demonstrated by trauma controls (5.3%). However, in the TBI sample, 18 out of 65 TBI patients (27.7%) showed this same pattern. Using a 4-point discrepancy scale, 3.3% of normal children and 16.9% of TBI children showed this pattern. The frequency of this pattern increased with severity of TBI, using two different but related classification systems. These preliminary findings require cross validation in a larger sample before definite conclusions can be reached.
authors.affiliation: Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, USA. george.prigatano@chw.edu
authors.forename: George P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Prigatano
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Shawn D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Gale
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007807:Language Tests; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*