Topic > Behavioral Assessment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury…

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is becoming more prevalent each year, “with an incidence of approximately 100 to 300 per 100,000” (Konrad et al 2010 ). A mild traumatic brain injury or concussion can be the result of any minor trauma to the head caused by an accident, sports-related injury, explosion, or fall. “Possible acute symptoms of mTBI include short-lived loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, irritability, anxiety, and impaired neuropsychological functions such as reduced attention, concentration, or memory problems” (Evans, 1992; Hall et al. 2005 cited by Konrad et al 2010 ). Some people who sustain an mTBI return to baseline level of function within a few hours and some take up to two months, there are also those who years later have not fully returned to baseline level of function resulting in impaired daily functioning. There are several methods for assessing post-mTBI behavior, most of these tests are traditional pen-and-paper tests, but computer-based tests also exist. One of the difficulties with the current mTBI assessment is the time it takes to complete it. Most mTBI evaluations use several tests and take approximately seven hours to complete. The following three studies each explore different behavioral assessments for mTBI. Konrad et al (2010) hypothesized that mTBI resulted in sustained functional and emotional effects and cognitive impairment even six years after the trauma. In their study Konrad and colleagues recruited 33 mTBI subjects and matched 33 control subjects. The following criteria determined the mTBI subjects: fluency in the German language, documented proof of diagnosis, age between 18 and 65 years at the time of evaluation, a score of 13-15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale taken 30 minutes after his... ..middle sheet......trauma, or could there be a genetic link? It is therefore critical to the well-being of individuals with mTBI that we find an accurate means of predicting whether these individuals will ultimately return to their baseline level of function. Works Cited Konrad, C., Geburek, A.J., Rist, F., Blumenroth, H., Fischer, B., Husstedt, I., …Lohmann, H. (2011). Long-term cognitive and emotional consequences of mild traumatic brain injury. Psychological Medicine, 41, 1197-1211. Raskin, S. A., Mateer, C. A., & Tweeten, R. (1998). Neuropsychological evaluation of individuals with mild traumatic brain injury. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 12(1), 21-30. Schatz, P., Pardini, J. E., Lovell, M. R., Collins, M. W., & Podell, K. (2006). Sensitivity and specificity of the ImPACT test battery for concussions in athletes. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 21, 91-99.