Subacute posttraumatic complaints and psychological distress in trauma patients with or without mild traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the frequency, nature and profile of complaints for trauma patients with and without mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and to assess their relation to anxiety and depression.


METHODS
A prospective cohort study in a level-one trauma centre was conducted. Mild traumatic brain injury patients and trauma controls were approached for participation. Two weeks after injury, The Head Injury Symptom Checklist (HISC) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were administered.


RESULTS
Two-hundred seventy two patients with mTBI and 125 TC patients completed the questionnaires. Differences were demonstrated between the two trauma populations on frequency and nature of reported complaints. Ordinal common factor analysis on the mTBI scores yielded three factors: mental distress, physical discomfort, and sensory disbalance, which were all significantly correlated to anxiety and depression scores. Discriminant analyses identified a subset of complaints which could allocate almost 80% of patients to the correct group.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with mTBI showed a different pattern of complaints than orthopaedic control patients. A mental distress factor consisting of both somatic and cognitive complaints proved to be most discriminating and showed high correlations with anxiety and depression.
Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
M E
ME
de Koning
Department of Trauma Surgery, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
B
B
Gareb
Department of Trauma Surgery, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
M
M
El Moumni
Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
M E
ME
Scheenen
Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
H J
HJ
van der Horn
Department of Psychometrics and Statistics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
M E
ME
Timmerman
Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
J M
JM
Spikman
Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.van.der.naalt@umcg.nl.
J
J
van der Naalt
D000328:Adult; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D057189:Checklist; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D038223:Post-Concussion Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014193:Trauma Centers
Anxiety; Depression; Mild traumatic brain injury; Posttraumatic complaints; Symptom checklist; Trauma