Brain Injury
Measurement
Oral Presentation
Kimberly Erler, PhD, OTR/L
Assistant Professor
MGH Institute of Health Professions
Boston, Massachusetts
Chung Lin (Novelle) Kew, MS
PhD Student
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas
Shannon Juengst, PhD, CRC
Assistant Professor
UT Southwestern
Dallas, Texas
We will desribe differences in participation across age groups after traumatic brain injury (TBI), with a focus on the effect of depression across the lifespan, using data from the 5-year from the TBI Model Systems National Database.
Objective : To determine differences in participation across age groups after traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Design : Secondary data analysis of the multicenter, prospective TBI Model Systems National Database
Setting : Community
Participants (or Animals, Specimens, Cadavers) : Community-dwelling adults ≥18 years old with moderate-severe TBI with complete participation and depression data at 5 years post-injury (n=3062)
Interventions : Not applicable
Main Outcome Measure(s) : Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective (PART-O) Subscales: 1) Productivity, 2) Social Relations, 3) Out and About
Results : Age groups were determined based on lifespan development stages: 18-25, 26-45, 46-65, 66-75, and ≥76 years old. We performed Games-Howell post-hoc comparisons by age group after Welch’s ANOVAs for each of the three PART-O subscales were all statistically significant. For Productivity, differences between all age groups were statistically significant, with the exception of 18-25 versus 26-45 year olds and 66-75 versus ≥76 year olds, with lower participation associated with older age. For Out and About, 18-25 year olds had significantly higher participation than all other groups except 26-45 year olds; 26-45 year olds had significantly higher participation than 46-65 year olds and ≥76 year olds. For Social Relations, 18-25 year olds and 26-45 year olds had significantly higher participation than 46-65 year olds, and ≥76 year olds had significantly lower participation than all other age groups.
Conclusions : Participation differed by age groups across the lifespan among community-dwelling adults 5 years post-TBI. These differences mirror age-related patterns in depression and life satisfaction after TBI, suggesting a link between mood, quality of life, and participation. However, future research should examine to what extent measurement bias (i.e. individual PART-O items functioning differently by age) affects assessment of participation as a measure of recovery or decline after TBI.