Frequency of Factors that Complicate the Identification of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Level I Trauma Center Patients. Concussion 2016 Mar;1(2)
Date
05/03/2016Pubmed ID
27134757Pubmed Central ID
PMC4847751DOI
10.2217/cnc.15.11Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85111419766 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 8 CitationsAbstract
AIM: Determine the frequency of factors that complicate identification of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in emergency department (ED) patients.
SETTING: Chart review.
MATERIALS & METHODS: Records of 3,042 patients (age 18-45) exposed to a potential mechanism of mTBI were reviewed for five common complicating factors and signs of mTBI.
RESULTS: Most patients (65.1%) had at least one complicating factor: given narcotics in the ED (43.7%), on psychotropic medication (18.4%), psychiatric diagnosis (15.3%), alcohol consumption near time of admission (14.2%), and pre-admission narcotic prescription (8.9%).
CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the frequency of these confounding factors in this population. Future research should identify how these factors interact with performance on assessment measures to improve evidence-based mTBI assessment in this population.
Author List
Furger RE, Nelson LD, Brooke Lerner E, McCrea MAAuthors
Michael McCrea PhD Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of WisconsinLindsay D. Nelson PhD Associate Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
