Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To identify patient features associated with early and late depression after traumatic brain injury (TBI). PARTICIPANTS: 3 clinical trauma groups (mild TBI, moderate-severe TBI, orthopedic injury) and their significant others. MEASURES: Preinjury: age, education, substance abuse, and psychiatric history; Injury severity: classification using Glasgow Coma Scale and cranial CT scan, posttraumatic amnesia; Early impairment: Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory (NFI), Impaired Self-Awareness (ISA); Social and family support: Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Family Assessment Device; Depression: NFI Depression Scale. METHOD: Regression analyses of predictor variables on early and late measures of depression. RESULTS: Depression rates did not differ among the 3 trauma groups. Preinjury level of education, previous psychiatric history, and perceived level of social support explained a small portion of the variance in depressive symptoms. Patients' self-assessment of their impairment at discharge was most strongly correlated with both early and late depression. ISA was associated with reduced self-report of depressive symptoms. However, when those with ISA were excluded from the analysis, self-assessment of impairment remained strongly associated with depression. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' self-assessment of impairment is strongly associated with early and late depression. Presence and severity of TBI does not appear to play a direct role in depression but does appear related to ISA, which serves as a barrier to the development of depression. Focusing on impairment appears to be a cardinal feature of depression in both patients with TBI and an orthopedic trauma group.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 156-166 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2007 |
Keywords
- Brain injury
- Depression
- Impaired self-awareness
- Rehabilitation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
- Rehabilitation
- Clinical Neurology