Mental health disorders after traumatic brain injury in a New Zealand caseload

Abstract

The rate of psychological symptoms was significantly higher post-TBI than pre-TBI and few of the patients reporting significant psychological symptoms were receiving intervention from mental health professionals. Further research is needed regarding the ability of TBI rehabilitation professionals in New Zealand to identify and respond to the psychological implications of TBI and on the ability of TBI and mental health teams to liaise effectively.

A prospective examination of Axis I psychiatric disorders in the first 5 years following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

“…Studies examining a range of disorders over longer time-frames have been cross-sectional (Fann et al 1995; van Reekum et al 1996; Ashman et al 2004; Whelan-Goodinson et al 2009), retrospective (Hibbard et al 1998; Koponen et al 2002) or used medical records to ascertain diagnoses (Fann et al 2004;Orlovska et al 2014; Gibson & Purdy, 2015); these methods preclude accurate examination of the timing of onset and the subsequent course of each disorder. As insight and memory impairments are common following TBI (Dikmen et al 2009; Ham et al 2014), self-report of symptoms experienced over long periods has questionable validity.…”