title: Reliability of the Abbreviated Westmead Post-traumatic Amnesia Scale in children: Impact of age on test results.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to determine the reliability of the Abbreviated Westmead Post-traumatic Amnesia Scale (A-WPTAS) in children by examining the impact of age on A-WPTAS performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were typically developing patients with minor illnesses or injuries and/or accompanying siblings aged 5-10 years, attending a children's hospital ED. Exclusion criteria included: (i) a recent traumatic brain injury; (ii) developmental disability; (iii) recent drug administration judged to impact cognition; and/or (iv) non-English speaking background. The A-WPTAS was administered on two occasions separated by approximately 60 min. Logistic regression was used to determine the odds of passing based on age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 125 children completed the A-WPTAS assessments. A-WPTAS pass rates were 36% for 5 year olds, 68% for 6 year olds, and exceeded 90% for 7-10 year olds. Compared with 9 year olds, 5 year olds had significantly lower odds of passing (P = 0.003), a trend that persisted for 6 year olds (P = 0.052). Among 5 and 6 year olds, failure was predominantly due to difficulty with temporo-spatial orientation items.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The A-WPTAS is reliable for use in children aged 7 years and older, while its use in children aged 6 years and under results in an unsatisfactory high false positive rate, limiting its clinical utility. The adult-level performance of children aged 7 years onwards provides strong support for using the tool in the early management of these children with mild traumatic brain injury in Australian EDs.
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tesson
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Rebecca R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Nogajski
authors.affiliation: Kids Rehab, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Julie-Anne
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Macey
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Kids Rehab, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Paget
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Abbreviated Westmead Post-traumatic Amnesia Scale; concussion; mild traumatic brain injury; paediatric; post-traumatic amnesia