Neuropsychiatric symptoms after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury in Vietnam: Assessment, prevalence, and impact on caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) have been well documented in WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations. In non-WEIRD populations, such as Vietnam, however, patients with TBI clinically remain uninvestigated with potential neuropsychiatric disorders, limiting on-time critical interventions. This study aims to (1) adapt the Vietnamese Neuropsychiatric Inventory (V-NPI), (2) examine NPSs after moderate-to-severe TBI and (3) evaluate their impact on caregiver burden and well-being in Vietnam. METHOD: Caregivers of seventy-five patients with TBI completed the V-NPI, and other behavior, mood, and caregiver burden scales. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent validity, and structural validity of the V-NPI. Caregivers reported that 78.7% of patients with TBI had at least three symptoms and 16.0% had more than seven. Behavioral and mood symptoms were more prevalent (ranging from 44.00% to 82.67% and from 46.67% to 66.67%, respectively) and severe in the TBI group. Importantly, NPSs in patients with TBI uniquely predicted 55.95% and 33.98% of caregiver burden and psychological well-being, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study reveals the first evidence for the presence and severity of NPSs after TBI in Vietnam, highlighting an urgent need for greater awareness and clinical assessment of these symptoms in clinical practice. The adapted V-NPI can serve as a useful tool to facilitate such assessments and interventions. In addition, given the significant impact of NPS on caregiver burden and well-being, psychosocial support for caregivers should be established.

Apathy in a high prevalence population of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury: An investigation in Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE: The reduction of goal-directed behavior, termed apathy, is a pervasive and debilitating syndrome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, understanding of apathy as a multifaceted construct is limited, especially in Southeast Asian nations. This study aimed to investigate the severity, insight, and psychosocial influences of apathy in executive, emotional, and initiation dimensions in Vietnam-a country with high prevalence of TBI. METHOD: One hundred and eleven Vietnamese participants (61 individuals with moderate to severe TBI and 50 healthy controls) and their informants completed the self-rated and informant-rated Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) for the assessment of executive, emotional, and initiation apathy severity. Insight of apathy was calculated by subtracting DAS self-ratings from informant ratings. Additionally, carers completed measures assessing psychosocial factors of overall family health and overprotective behavior, while participants rated their own self-efficacy. RESULTS: Our results showed greater informant-rated apathy for all three dimensions in individuals with TBI relative to controls. However, while people with TBI had greater self-rated initiation apathy, they regarded their executive apathy as lower and their emotional apathy as similar compared with controls. Reduced insight in patients was seen for executive and initiation apathy. Across participants, executive apathy was predicted by family functioning and overprotectiveness, emotional apathy was predicted by family functioning, and initiation apathy was predicted by self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the multidimensional characterizations and socio-cultural considerations of apathy after TBI, which will potentially develop both individual-specific and symptom-specific approaches in clinical practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).