IMR Press / JIN / Volume 23 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2302045
Open Access Original Research
Symptoms and Disability after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Five-Year Follow-up
Show Less
1 Department of Surgery and Perioperative Sciences, Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
2 Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
*Correspondence: britt-marie.stalnacke@umu (Britt-Marie Stålnacke)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2024, 23(2), 45; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2302045
Submitted: 20 October 2023 | Revised: 29 November 2023 | Accepted: 12 December 2023 | Published: 22 February 2024
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Every year, many people suffer from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) with dramatic consequences for both the victim and their close relatives in the form of remaining lifelong symptoms and functional disabilities as a result. Methods: This study evaluates the outcomes of 49 patients after mild TBI (mTBI) at follow-up after 5 years by using the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) to assess post-TBI symptoms and the Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE) to assess disability. The specific aim was to evaluate post-TBI characteristics concerning age, gender, pre-injury systemic disease, computed tomography (CT) result and additional TBIs. Results: Almost eighty percent reported RPQ symptoms, the most common for both genders being fatigue (51%) and poor concentration (51%). Seventy-six percent had a good recovery, 18% moderate disability, while 6% reported severe disability. The number of symptoms was significantly correlated to the level of disability. All participants with severe disability had repeated mTBI. Only twenty-one percent reported that they received some form of rehabilitation intervention after their mTBI. Conclusions: Five years after suffering mTBI, patients reported high rates of symptoms and disabilities. Our findings suggest that tailored rehabilitation interventions should be designed to identify mTBI patients in need of early rehabilitation. This would result in minimized suffering for the individual and improved cost-effectiveness for society.

Keywords
traumatic brain injury
RPQ
GOSE
post-concussion symptoms
disability
rehabilitation
Figures
Fig. 1.
Share
Back to top