Functional and Psychosocial Outcome One Year After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury and Early-Onset Rehabilitation Therapy

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of early-onset continuous rehabilitation treatment on the 1-year outcome of patients after severe traumatic brain injury. Immediately after recovery from mechanical ventilation, a total of 48 patients underwent a complex early rehabilitation treatment until they were discharged from hospital and local ambulant care was deemed sufficient. The follow-up examination took place 12 months after trauma. Data reveal that at 1 year 91.6% of the patients were completely or restrictedly independent of care and capable of carrying out activities of daily living, although they frequently were still suffering from marked behavioural and also from certain sensorimotor deficits. Only 45.8% of the patients were obviously able to work without restrictions or had returned to work. In those subjects who were not or only very restrictedly able to work, behavioural and speech deficits were significantly more frequent. Behavioural and speech deficits seem to represent the major cause that hinders professional reintegration. Rehabilitation therapy therefore should be specifically directed to improve these deficits.

Adults with Acquired Traumatic Brain Injury: Experiences of a Changeover Process and Consequences in Everyday Life

“…Those often mentioned are physical or psychological consequences (Dean et al, 2000;Lippert-Grüner et al, 2002;Bondanelli et al, 2005). The following statement gives an overview of the study groups' reported post-injury consequences.…”

“…That kind of problem has an effect on a person's right to drive a car. For the respondents in this study it affected the freedom of movement and led to isolation in the home (e.g., Lippert-Grüner et al, 2002).…”

“…Different consequences, experienced by the informants, were reported through the interviews and sorted during the analysis phase into reported consequences. The reported consequences were structured in to comprehensive concepts well known from other studies in the field (e.g., Dean et al, 2000;Lippert-Grüner et al, 2002).…”

“…During the last years research has shown that the brain is a dynamic and plastic organ with capacity to compensate damage and deficits (Eriksson, 2003). In Rehabilitation Medicine, the consequences of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have been of importance and scientific studies have documented and evaluated rehabilitation treatments, the process of recovery, and longer term outcomes such as the level of social reintegration (Dean et al, 2000;Lippert-Grüner, Wedekind, & Klug, 2002;Thomsen, 1992). Despite the plethora of research, only a small number of brain injury studies have been undertaken from a phenomenological or sociological perspective in examining narratives, everyday life, life-satisfaction, return to work, and family life after TBI (Chamberlain, 2006).…”

Coping and Health Problems of Caregivers of Survivors with Traumatic Brain Injury

“…Several longitudinal follow-up studies (11)(12)(13) on survivors with TBI notea significant impact on caregiver roles.Several associations between caregiver quality of life, health status and survivor recovery also are evident in the findings of these studies. However, an evaluation of the difficulty in providing care for survivors with TBI during the immediate rehabilitation phase after discharge from hospital has been recommended (1,3).…”