Caregivers' concerns about judgment and safety of patients with brain injury: a preliminary investigation.
OBJECTIVE
To identify caregivers' most common concerns about the judgment and safety of patients with brain injury in home and community environments. To quantify caregivers' stress levels and their level of comfort leaving patients at home unsupervised and examine the interrelationships between caregivers' safety and judgment ratings, stress levels, and levels of comfort leaving patients unattended.


METHODS
Retrospective, cross-sectional design.


METHODS
Outpatient brain injury neuropsychology clinic at a university medical center.


METHODS
A convenience sample of 121 caregivers of traumatic brain injury survivors at least 1 month postinjury and 18 years of age or older.


METHODS
Scores in 9 domains from the Judgment and Safety Screening Inventory; ratings of stress levels and levels of comfort leaving patients at home unattended derived from the General Health and History Questionnaire.


RESULTS
Caregivers' most common judgment and safety-related concerns were in the Travel and Financial domains, with many reflecting patients' memory deficits. Heightened caregiver stress levels were prevalent. Higher levels of concern about judgment and safety were associated with higher stress levels and concerns about leaving patients unattended.


CONCLUSIONS
Consistent with research on patients with other types of neurological disorders, concerns about driving and financial management among caregivers are prevalent. Additional research is needed to identify the most cost-effective methods of evaluating patients and enabling them to function at their highest level in the community.
Kreutzer
Jeffrey S
JS
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Box 980542, Richmond, VA 23298-0542, USA. jskreutz@vcu.edu
Livingston
Lee A
LA
Everley
Rachel S
RS
Gary
Kelli W
KW
Arango-Lasprilla
Juan Carlos
JC
Powell
Victoria D
VD
Marwitz
Jennifer H
JH
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult