Keywords

awareness, emotional adjustment, severity, traumatic brain injury

 

Authors

  1. Sawchyn, James M. PhD
  2. Mateer, Catherine A. PhD
  3. Suffield, J. Braxton PhD

Abstract

Objective: Relationships among awareness of deficits, injury severity, and emotional adjustment in patients with traumatic brain injury were explored.

 

Participants: One hundred sixty-six individuals were referred for postacute neurocognitive assessment.

 

Design: Retrospective file analysis identified injury severity, and data from the Patient Competency Rating Scale and Katz Adjustment Scale-Revised, utilizing self-ratings and significant others' ratings, were gathered.

 

Results: Significant others described emotional adjustment difficulties, regardless of the severity of injury. A positive association was noted between patients' acknowledgment of neurobehavioral problems and ratings of their emotional adjustment.

 

Conclusions: Severity of TBI appeared less important than emotional adjustment in the awareness of deficit; mildly injured patients were more likely to report neurobehavioral deficits than were moderately and severely injured patients, relative to the reports of significant others.