Neuropsychological Testing and Functional Outcome for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury By Brian J. Leahy and Chow S. Lam

Presented by: James Reid Elizabeth Hughes Artesia McDaniel Mike Farrell

Traumatic Brain Injury as Measured by Performance on Neuropsychological Tests and Independent Living Recent advances in medical technology has lead to significant growth in traumatic brain rehabilitation. Plan rehabilitation according to available resources. Increases in employment and communication skills is a high priority for patients.

Cont. Family dynamics change as the injured person becomes a dependent on the rest of the family. Injury factors (coma, age) are associated with future employability. Correlations showed a significance in the tests given.

Participants Adults admitted to a Midwestern brain injury rehab facility between Completed the standard administration of the neuropsychological assessment instruments involved in the study Subjects were available to be reached for a collection of follow up data one year to six months after discharge

Measures Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale- Revised(WAIS-R) Comprehensive memory assessment instrument Comprised of 8 subtests with five scores Wechsler Memory Scale(WMS-R) Used to evaluate patients memory

Measures Stroop Color and Word Test Consists of three separate tasks The task yields four scores Four scores: attention/concentration, verbal memory, general memory and relayed recall

Procedure Neuropsychological assessment test scores from initial admittance 6-12mo. after discharge data collected from the patients to determine levels of assistance Current employment status and position

Results 3 sets of Dependent Variables: -Overall intellectual functioning (WAIS- R). -Memory (WMS-R) -Attentional Concentration (Stroop Color and Word Test)

Results cont. Level of assistance received showed significant difference in overall intellectual functioning. p>.001, for employment status and overall intellectual functioning Memory and attentional concentration showed no significant difference b/w employment and level of assistance groups.

Results Cont. Levels of assistance groups and employment groups scored significantly different on Stroop Color and Word Test.

Discussion The use of neuropsychological test in predicting long-term outcome? No significant difference between employment or level of assistance groups found. Stroop Color and Word Test yield sig. - but both test described as elemental in function.

Discussion Cont. Generalizibility of sample? Is sample representative of general population. -sample obtained from rehab. facility only! -90% of sample Caucasian -83% male

Critical Review Future research should refine the prediction models and continue developing interventions in rehabilitation settings to maximize functional outcome. Explore alternate sampling methods to include patients in which rehabilitation facilities are not a viable option. Obtain a representative sample