Our survey highlighted the variety of care scenarios for patients in a permanent vegetative state or a minimally conscious state. It revealed practical difficulties and, above all, ethical questions. The present work could serve as a basis for implementation of a recently issued French government circular on defining specific wards for these patients.
The QoL-gNMD showed adequate psychometric properties and can be used in clinical settings. Although not anchor-based, the minimum detectable change tables help in interpreting score change. Muscle Nerve 56: 1085-1091, 2017.
Aggressive behavior can unveil organic brain injuries, depressive syndrome as well as iatrogenic nature of the environment. This clinical case is based on the fact that antipsychotic drugs, aside from their sedative effect, are not the proper treatment for agitation following traumatic brain injury. This case also highlights how management of behavioral disorders following TBI should not be based on pharmacological treatments only but instead should focus on multidisciplinary strategies of care.
Objective:
To give a cross-sectional overview of ongoing management of behavioral disorders following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a region of France, to compare this with recent recommendations from the French Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (SOFMER), and to evaluate associations between treatments and participant characteristics.
Setting:
Outpatients referred to medical or community-based facilities in a region of France.
Participants:
One hundred twenty-nine adults with moderate to severe TBI, in the postacute period (over 3 months postinjury).
Design:
Cross-sectional cohort study.
Main Measures:
Sociodemographic data, ongoing interventions including psychotherapy and medication, behavioral disorders assessed by the Behavioral Dysexecutive Syndrome Inventory (BDSI).
Results:
Thirty-three percent of participants received ongoing psychotherapy and 43% were on medication. The most prescribed medications were antidepressants (21%), neuroleptics (18%), anxiolytics (16%), and mood stabilizers (14%). Eighty-five participants (71%) presented a current Behavioral Dysexecutive Syndrome (BDS) according to the BDSI. These participants more frequently received treatment (P = .004), psychotherapy (P = .048), medications (often 2 or more) (P = .007), and particularly antiepileptic mood stabilizers (P = .037) compared with those without BDS.
Conclusion:
Although recommended as first-line treatment, few participants with BDS received psychotherapy. Medications were overused, especially neuroleptics in view of their potential adverse effects. In contrast, recommended medications, such as mood stabilizers and β-blockers, did not appear to be highly prescribed whatever the evolution. Compliance with recommendations seemed insufficient.
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