Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Speech and Hearing Science
The current study aims to evaluate the utility of time to follow commands (TFC), post-traumatic amnesia (PTA), and total duration of impaired consciousness (TFC + PTA) in predicting functional outcome after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI), as assessed by the Glasgow Coma Scale—Extended, Pediatric Revision (GOS-E Peds). Given the life-long needs of children with TBI, further research is necessary to identify predictors of functional outcomes. These predictors could guide clinicians when educating a child's caregivers about potential outcomes and prognosis for their child's long-term needs following TBI in order for them to utilize necessary support services following injury. This study obtained information from 60 children with complicated mild to severe TBI (mean age at injury = 13.7 years, range = 5-20 years) in the setting of a pediatric inpatient rehabilitation hospital and associated multidisciplinary brain injury follow-up clinic. Severity measures and outcomes were scored retrospectively on the basis of documentation from each patient's inpatient stay and outpatient follow-up evaluations at two-months and one-year post-injury. Correlations between measures of severity and functional outcome were obtained. TFC and TFC + PTA were found to be moderately correlated with GOS-E Peds scores at both the two-month follow up and the one-year follow-up. The results of this study suggest that TFC and TFC + PTA are important predictors of functional outcomes after TBI.
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Committee: Jennifer Lundine PhD, CCC-SLP (Advisor); Stacy Harnish PhD, CCC-SLP (Committee Member)
Subjects: Rehabilitation; Speech Therapy