The impact of injury severity on long-term social outcome following paediatric traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Despite suggestions that paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) disrupts social skill development, few studies have investigated long-term social outcome following the transition into adulthood. The current study aimed to investigate long-term social outcome, in a sample of 36 survivors who suffered a mild, moderate or severe TBI between 8 and 12 years of age. At 7-10 years post-injury, the age of participants ranged between 16 and 22 years. Social outcome was assessed using a number of self-rated and parent-rated questionnaires, in order to obtain self- and other-rated accounts of the groups' current social functioning. Predictors of long-term social outcome were also explored, with findings suggesting that young people who suffered mild TBI during childhood tended to be functioning at a higher level on some measures of social functioning, compared to those that suffered a moderate and severe injury. Further, results suggested that pre-injury adaptive functioning and socio-economic status predicted long-term functioning for some measures of social outcome. Finally, social problem-solving skills predicted the success of social reintegration post-TBI. These preliminary findings indicate that there is a risk of social difficulties following paediatric TBI continuing into adulthood, and that a number of demographic, social, and neuropsychological variables continue to predict social outcome even at this late stage post-injury.

Attentional skills 10 years post-paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI)

“…This relationship is not surprising, given that lower IQ is acutely linked with more severe injury. Furthermore, it may also be that the acute predictors used in this study may be better able to predict 'functional' outcomes in comparison to cognitive outcomes, a finding reported by Muscara et al [66], where SES and pre-injury adaptive functioning were able to predict social outcome based on questionnaire data reflecting functional skills.…”

Assessment of executive functioning in children after TBI with a naturalistic open-ended task: A pilot study

“…The cooking task was feasible in children aged [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and the patients with TBI made a significantly higher number of errors than the matched controls. Patients were slower to perform the task and less likely to achieve the goal without explicit intervention of the examiners.…”

“…Annual incidence of TBI is estimated at 185-294 per 100 000 children aged less than 15 years [2,3]. Childhood TBI often results in impairments in children's cognitive, behavioural and social functioning, including deficits in memory, attention, speed of processing, executive functioning and social skills [4][5][6][7][8]. Those deficits often have a significant and longstanding impact on the child's everyday functioning, communication skills, behaviour, adaptive functioning, social interactions, academic achievement, as well as poorer participation in society, difficulty maintaining employment and social relationships [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Variations in the quality of inpatient rehabilitation care to facilitate school re-entry and cognitive and communication function for children with TBI

“…Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of acquired disability among children, often resulting in a spectrum of enduring cognitive, communication and neurobehavioural sequelae that require the services of an interdisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation team [1][2][3][4][5][6]. For children and adolescents, a critical element of care includes school reintegration, which presents considerable demands on the child's executive function, cognition, behaviour and communication and social skills.…”