Physical complaints, medical service use, and social and employment changes following mild traumatic brain injury: a 6-month longitudinal study.

Using a prospective, dual-cohort study design in which selected preinjury factors were controlled, we present outcomes of 235 patients in a case cohort and 235 patients in a comparison cohort following emergency-department-diagnosed mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). Symptoms, medical services use,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 239 - 257
Autores principales: Kraus J, Schaffer K, Ayers K, Stenehjem J, Shen H, Afifi AA
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins May/Jun2005
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Using a prospective, dual-cohort study design in which selected preinjury factors were controlled, we present outcomes of 235 patients in a case cohort and 235 patients in a comparison cohort following emergency-department-diagnosed mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). Symptoms, medical services use, and social and employment concerns were evaluated 6 months after the injury. After adjusting for preinjury characteristics, headaches, dizziness, vision difficulties, memory or learning problems, and alcohol intolerance were found to occur significantly more often in the MTBI cohort than in the comparison cohort. Problems sleeping, use of prescribed medications, and changes in employment were less likely in the MTBI cohort. Although MTBI is not life threatening, our findings suggest that 6 months after injury persons still have related health problems that require routine medical management.