title: Parental perspectives on recovery and social reintegration after pediatric traumatic brain injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the validity of parental ratings of their child's overall recovery and social reintegration after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Primary care hospital/medical center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-nine children aged 6 to 16 years (80 with TBI and 19 orthopedic trauma controls) evaluated as outpatients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parental ratings of overall recovery and social reintegration; neuropsychological test performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Severity of injury correlated with postacute parental ratings of the child's overall recovery (r = -0.498, N = 84, P = .001) and social reintegration (r = -0.507, N = 84, P = .001). A similar correlation was observed between TBI severity and a known "objective" marker of recovery (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III Coding subtest; r = -0.503, N = 84, P = .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present findings support the concurrent validity of parental perspectives of a child's overall recovery and social reintegration after pediatric TBI. Incorporating these views may assist in the rehabilitation of children following brain injury. Parental reasons for judging a child's recovery as "incomplete" may differ as a function of severity of injury.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona 85013, USA. george.prigatano@chw.edu
authors.forename: George P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Prigatano
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012917:Social Adjustment