title: Conversational topics discussed by individuals with severe traumatic brain injury and their communication partners during sub-acute recovery.
abstract: To investigate the nature and patterns of conversational topics discussed by individuals with severe TBI and familiar communication partners at 3 and 6 months post-injury, and to examine changes occurring in conversational topics during sub-acute recovery.
  
  
  
  Qualitative content analysis was used to explore the nature of topics and generate conversational themes. Topic analysis provided an understanding of conversational topic management by identifying patterns of topic initiation and maintenance.
  
  
  
  Twenty-two people with severe TBI and a familiar communication partner engaged in a 10-minute casual conversation on self-selected topics at 3 and 6 months post-injury.
  
  
  
  Three main conversational themes were identified: connecting; re-engaging; and impacts of injury. The nature of topics related to these themes changed over time to reflect participants' sub-acute rehabilitation experiences. Most conversational dyads maintained similar conversational and topic patterns during sub-acute recovery.
  
  
  
  Qualitative analysis provides a new insight into the conversational topics of individuals with severe TBI. Many participants engaged in appropriate conversations and discussed mutually important topics with familiar communication partners. Findings may inform speech-language pathology intervention in sub-acute recovery to improve conversational discourse abilities of individuals with severe TBI and support their communication partners.
authors.affiliation: a Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Sydney , Lidcombe , NSW , Australia.|b NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery , Sydney , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brassel
authors.affiliation: a Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Sydney , Lidcombe , NSW , Australia.|b NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery , Sydney , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kenny
authors.affiliation: a Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Sydney , Lidcombe , NSW , Australia.|b NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery , Sydney , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Power
authors.affiliation: a Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Sydney , Lidcombe , NSW , Australia.|b NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery , Sydney , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Elbourn
authors.affiliation: b NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery , Sydney , NSW , Australia.|c School of Psychology , University of New South Wales , Sydney , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Skye
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.affiliation: b NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery , Sydney , NSW , Australia.|d Faculty of Medicine , University of Sydney , Sydney , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tate
authors.affiliation: e Department of Psychology , Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: MacWhinney
authors.affiliation: f Department of Communicative Disorders , University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison , WI , USA.
authors.forename: Lyn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Turkstra
authors.affiliation: g Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences , University of Arizona , Tucson , AZ , USA.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.affiliation: a Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Sydney , Lidcombe , NSW , Australia.|b NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery , Sydney , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Leanne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Togher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003142:Communication; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Traumatic brain injury; communication; content analysis; conversation topics; qualitative; recovery