The effects of cognitive teletherapy on reported everyday memory behaviours of persons with chronic traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an errorless training approach, Spaced Retrieval (SR) training delivered over the telephone, on the reported everyday memory problems of adults with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI).


METHODS
The study was a randomized controlled clinical trial.


METHODS
Thirty-eight participants received either SR training or didactic strategy instruction (SI). Participants in both groups identified three memory-related goals and were paired to receive the same total telephone contact time. The main outcome measures were frequency of reported memory problems and perceived quality of life.


RESULTS
Participants in the SR group reported significantly more treatment goal mastery/strategy use than those in the SI group, immediately and at 1-month post-training. Caregivers reported similarly significant between-groups differences in everyday use of treatment behaviours at 1 month. Both groups reported some generalized strategy use to other non-targeted behaviours and decreased frequency of reported memory problems, but there were no significant between-groups differences in participant or caregiver reports of generalized strategy use or reported memory problems at either time-point. There was no change in perceived quality of life in either group.


CONCLUSIONS
SR treatment delivered by phone produced significantly more treatment goal mastery/strategy use and maintenance than SI; however, both treatments improved reported everyday memory functioning for persons with TBI, without significant group differences on measures of generalized strategy use or perceived quality of life.
Bourgeois
Michelle S
MS
Department of Communication Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1200, USA. michelle.bourgeois@comm.fsu.edu
Lenius
Kerry
K
Turkstra
Lyn
L
Camp
Cameron
C
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008606:Mental Processes; D008875:Middle Aged; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000379:methods*; D013689:Telephone