Showing papers by "Jennie Ponsford published in 2007"

Psychosocial and emotional outcomes 10 years following traumatic brain injury.

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association of psychosocial outcome 10 years following traumatic brain injury (TBI) with demographic variables, injury severity, current cognitive functioning, emotional state, aggression, alcohol use, and fatigue. SETTING: Community-based follow-up. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-three participants with mild to very severe TBI sustained 10 years previously and significant others. MEASURES: Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale, Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, NFI Aggression scale, Fatigue Severity Scale, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, neuropsychological tests of attention/processing speed, memory, and executive function. RESULTS: Psychosocial functioning was lowest in the occupational activity domain and highest in the living skills domains. Variables including education, posttraumatic amnesia duration, numerous cognitive measures, concurrent fatigue, aggression, anxiety, and depression were all significantly associated with psychosocial outcome, although the strength of correlations varied between ratings of participants with TBI and relatives. Posttraumatic amnesia duration was most strongly associated with psychosocial outcome measured by relatives; anxiety, aggression, and depression were the strongest predictors when ratings were assigned by participants with TBI. Self-reported fatigue, depression, and alcohol use were the strongest predictors of aggression. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to address problems with anxiety, depression, fatigue, and alcohol use as a possible means of improving long-term psychosocial outcome following TBI. Language: en

Alcohol and drug use following traumatic brain injury: A prospective study

Abstract: Primary objectives: To establish pre-morbid alcohol and drug use in persons with TBI, relative to controls, investigate how patterns of substance use change over time following TBI and identify factors associated with heavy post-injury substance use.Methods and procedures: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification test (AUDIT) and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) was completed by 121 hospital inpatients with TBI, documenting pre-injury alcohol and drug use, and 133 demographically similar controls. Participants with TBI completed these measures and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) again 1 and 2 years post-injury and 76 also completed them at 3 years.Results: Participants with TBI showed similar levels of drug and alcohol use to controls pre-injury, with 31.4% of the TBI group and 29.3% of controls drinking at hazardous levels. Alcohol and drug use declined in the first year post-injury, but increased by 2 years post-injury, with only 21.4% of participants with TBI reporting abstinence from ...

The influence of cultural background on motivation for and participation in rehabilitation and outcome following traumatic brain injury.

Abstract: AIMS To compare motivation for and participation in rehabilitation, outcome, and distress over role changes in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) from the dominant English-speaking culture in Australia versus those from minority culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. MAIN MEASURES Motivation for Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Questionnaire; Craig Handicap Assessment Reporting Technique. PARTICIPANTS Two groups of persons with TBI, 38 of English-speaking backgrounds and 32 of CALD backgrounds. RESULTS Groups had similar education and preinjury employment status, both showed positive attitudes toward rehabilitation and participated equally in rehabilitation. However, CALD participants showed poorer outcomes in several domains, including postinjury employment status, cognitive independence, mobility and social integration, and showed greater distress about changes in ability to perform certain life roles. CONCLUSIONS Differences in outcome and levels of distress over role changes may occur in those from CALD backgrounds following TBI, independent of socioeconomic background and access to rehabilitation. There is a need to further investigate possible reasons for this, including beliefs, coping style, and emotional response to injury.

Impact of apolipoprotein gene on cognitive impairment and recovery after traumatic brain injury.

Abstract: The presence of the e4 allele may have a negative influence on response to injury and recovery in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).1,2 However, no study to date has included an uninjured control group to examine whether the influence of the e4 allele might be independent of TBI. In this study, we investigated whether presence of the e4 allele in patients with TBI results in greater impairments of memory, attention, executive function, and functional outcome 3, 6, and 12 months postinjury, and in slower recovery, than in patients without the e4 allele and uninjured controls. Following ethics approval and informed consent, 120 patients with moderate–severe TBI, aged 16 to 64 years, with no history of previous neurologic or psychiatric disorder were assessed 3, 6, and 12 months postinjury. They comprised 69.2% men, with mean Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS) 8.24 (SD = 4.17, range = 3 to 15), mean post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) 26.14 days (SD = 28.64, range = <1 to 135), mean age 32.66 years (SD 13.38, range = 17 to 64), mean education 12.48 years (SD = 2.38, range = …