Social cognition four years after mild-TBI: An age-matched prospective longitudinal cohort study.

Abstract

Objective: To assess longer-term social cognition after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and to identify the sociodemographic and acute factors (mood, cognitive functioning, and symptoms) influencing social cognition. Method: Data were extracted for 121 adults who experienced a mTBI and completed the Emotion Evaluation and Social Inference Enriched tests of The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) 4 years postinjury. To identify early indicators of outcome, responses to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptom Questionnaire, and CNS Vital Signs neurocognitive assessment conducted 1 month postinjury were also extracted. Social cognition scores were compared to age-matched TASIT norms (N = 121). Results: The mTBI group was significantly less able to interpret what people say and intend than norms, although the effect sizes were small (d = 0.43). There were 24.8% of people 4 years postmTBI and 9.9% of norms who experienced at least mild impairment in social inference. There were no significant differences between the mTBI group and norms for emotion evaluation. Poorer social inference 4 years after mTBI was significantly associated with lower cognitive flexibility and executive function (F = 2.57, df = 13,26, p = .02). Group differences remained after controlling for cognitive functioning (F = 104.59 df = 1,58, p = .001. Conclusions: These novel results suggest that adults postmTBI may experience social inference difficulties 4 years post-TBI that are not completely explained by cognitive difficulties. Further research is needed.

A Single-center Comparison Using Exoskeleton Rehabilitation for Cerebrovascular Accidents and Traumatic Brain Injury in a Cohort of Hispanic Patients

“…Patients who suffer TBI, even when mild, could end up having impairments up to one year post injury 22 . Cognitive impairments after TBI could have even a longer sequelae, lasting up to 4 years, as previously reported 23 . The sequelae post-TBI that affects cognitive function is known as postconcussive syndrome 24 .…”

Neuroimaging and Psychometric Assessment of Mild Cognitive Impairment After Traumatic Brain Injury

“…At all adult ages, mTBI can trigger gradual cognitive decline progressing across the lifespan and frequently affecting attention, processing speed, memory and executive function (EF) ( Senathi-Raja et al, 2010 ; Prince and Bruhns, 2017 ). Notably, social cognition impairment has been reported up to ∼4 years post-mTBI and up to ∼10 years post-TBI ( Ponsford et al, 2013 ; Theadom et al, 2019 ) and such impairment is significantly associated with post-concussive quality of life ( Jones et al, 2011 ). Despite these facts, however, impaired social cognition has not been studied comprehensively in TBI samples.…”

Characterizing the Risk of Depression Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Meta-Analysis of the Literature Comparing Chronic mTBI to Non-mTBI Populations

“…Depression has many direct consequences, and elucidation of the burden attributable to depression is essential to understanding the impact of this disorder in the post-mTBI setting. Depression may mediate the relationships between mTBI and poor physical health (6), diminish functional capacity (7), impair executive control (4), and hinder social function (8). Depression also decreases quality of life after mTBI (7) and has a substantial personal and economic burden (9).…”