Patterns of Cognitive Test Scores and Symptom Complaints in Persons with TBI Who Failed Performance Validity Testing.

OBJECTIVE: To determine clinically meaningful subgroups of persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who have failed performance validity testing. METHOD: Study participants were selected from a cohort of 674 participants with definitive medical evidence of TBI. Participants were those who failed performance validity testing (the Word Memory Test, using the standard cutoffs). Participants were administered cognitive tests and self-report questionnaires. Test and questionnaire results were summarized as 12 dimension scores. Cluster analysis using the k-means method was performed. RESULTS: Cluster analysis for the 143 retained participants indicated three subgroups. These subgroups differed on patterns of scores. Subgroup 1 was impaired for memory and had no excessive complaints. Subgroup 2 had impaired memory and processing speed as well as concern regarding cognition function. Subgroup 3 showed impairment on all cognitive tests and excess complaints in multiple areas. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide a preliminary basis for improved understanding of poor performance validity.

The Discrepancy Between Cognitive Complaints and Neuropsychological Test Findings in Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury.

OBJECTIVE: To better identify variables related to discrepancies between subjective cognitive complaints and objective neuropsychological findings in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). SETTING: Three rehabilitation centers in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 504 community-dwelling adult survivors of TBI following discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. DESIGN: Prospective cohort observation study. MAIN MEASURES: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition, Digit Span; Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test; Trail Making Test, Part B; Word Memory Test; Patient Health Questionnaire-9; Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory; TBI-Quality of Life item bank. RESULTS: Statistical analyses revealed multiple factors associated with subjective-objective discrepancies in attention, memory, and executive functions. Depression was consistently associated with underestimation of cognitive abilities. However, subjective-objective discrepancies varied by cognitive domains in regard to other factors related to underestimation and overestimation of abilities. CONCLUSIONS: Reconciling and interpreting subjective-objective discrepancies regarding cognitive functions following TBI are important tasks for case conceptualization and treatment planning. Depression is an important patient characteristic to consider when discrepancy patterns indicate underestimation of cognitive abilities. This study highlights the importance of assessing mood, a modifiable patient characteristic, with self-report symptom inventories. Future studies are needed to connect these findings with TBI outcomes.

Responsiveness of the Traumatic Brain Injury-Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) Measurement System.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the responsiveness of the Traumatic Brain Injury-Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) measurement system. DESIGN: Participants completed the 20 TBI-QOL item banks and the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective (PART-O) Productivity Subscale at baseline and 6-month follow-up assessments. Participants were categorized into 4 groups (increased productivity, unchanged productivity, and decreased productivity) based on PART-O Productivity scores. Paired sample t tests were used to compare TBI-QOL scores at baseline and 6 months, and standardized response means and Cohen's d were computed to estimate effect sizes. SETTING: Three traumatic brain injury (TBI) Model Systems rehabilitation centers in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred one community-dwelling adults with TBI. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: 20 TBI-QOL item banks. RESULTS: As expected, given that there was no intervention, group mean TBI-QOL subdomain scores for the entire sample showed no change or small improvement over the 6-month study period. At the follow-up assessment, 72 participants reported increased productivity, 71 reported decreased productivity, and 58 reported the same level of productivity as they had 6 months prior. When compared with participants who reported unchanged or decreased productivity, participants who reported increased productivity on the PART-O subscale had clinically meaningful (d≥0.30) improvements on 7 TBI-QOL measures. The largest improvement was in the Independence subdomain (mean change, 7.06; df=0.84), with differences also observed in the Mobility, Positive Affect and Well-Being, Resilience, Grief/Loss, Ability to Participate, and Satisfaction with Participation subdomains. CONCLUSIONS: The 20 TBI-QOL item banks demonstrate responsiveness to change and measurement stability in a community-dwelling sample. Researchers may use the TBI-QOL to detect changes in HRQOL after a clinical intervention and clinicians may use it in their daily practices to monitor patient recovery.

Conceptual Structure of Health-Related Quality of Life for Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury: Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the TBI-QOL.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the factor structure of the Traumatic Brain Injury-Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) measurement system. DESIGN: Observational. SETTING: 3 TBI Model Systems rehabilitation centers. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty TBI-QOL item banks were administered to a sample of community-dwelling adults with TBI (N=504) as part of a study of TBI classification. A subsample of participants (n=200) was randomly selected for exploratory factor analyses, while data from the remaining participants (n=304) were used for the confirmatory factor analysis. To examine a wide range of conceptual models, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on a total of 16 models, ranging from 1 to 7 factors. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Not applicable. RESULTS: Initial exploratory factor analysis yielded support for a 5-factor model (negative emotion, cognitive impairment, functioning and participation, positive emotion, pain). Confirmatory factor analysis results, however, indicated a 7-factor model including physical function, physical symptoms, cognition, negative emotion, positive emotion, sense of self, and social participation (model 16; robust fit statistics root mean square error of approximation =.063, standardized root mean square residual =.035, comparative fit index =.955, Tucker-Lewis Index =.943, Bayes Information Criterion =40059.44). CONCLUSIONS: The complex 7-factor model of the TBI-QOL provides a more nuanced framework for understanding health-related quality of life for persons with TBI than the commonly used 3-factor model including physical health, mental health, and social health.

User satisfaction with lower limb wearable robotic exoskeletons.

Objective: To provide the results of a robotic exoskeleton user satisfaction questionnaire completed by participants utilizing two robotic exoskeletons.Method: Seven individuals with physical disabilities engaged in two exoskeleton-assisted training phases with the REX and the Ekso 1.1 (Ekso), after which they completed a user satisfaction questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of structured items with a Likert scale, which were averaged and compared, as well as free response questions, which were interpreted thematically.Results: Participants reported some differences in user satisfaction between the two exoskeletons. They indicated higher satisfaction with transferring in and out of the REX and with its appearance and higher satisfaction with the transportability of the Ekso. Expectations for exoskeleton use were relatively similar for the two devices, with some exceptions. Whereas participants indicated that many changes should be made to both exoskeletons, they reported that some were more necessary for the REX and others were more necessary for the Ekso. Participants reported that they would be somewhat likely to use both exoskeletons at home and in the community if they were available.Conclusions: This brief report provides an initial comparison of user satisfaction with two exoskeletons, thereby contributing to the growing body of literature in this area.Implications for rehabiliationContributes to the literature on user satisfaction with robotic exoskeletons Implications for rehabilitationEmphasizes the role of user/participant/patient feedback in rehabilitation researchProvides user satisfaction questionnaire items that can be used in future studies.

The relationship between resilience, emotional distress, and community participation outcomes following traumatic brain injury.

Purpose/Objective: To determine how resilience is associated with social participation outcomes in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI), in the context of emotional distress, demographics, and injury-related factors.Setting: Individuals with a history of TBI recruited the following stay at three rehabilitation facilities in the USA.Participants: 201 community-dwelling persons with medically documented TBI ranging in severity from mild to severe.Design: Prospective cohort observational study. Data were collected at two time points, approximately 6 months apart.Main Measures: TBI-QOL; PART-OResults: Resilience at baseline was moderately to strongly correlated with baseline psychological distress variables (rs= -.66) and social participation variables (rs =.33 to.57). In regression analyses, resilience was directly associated with social participation outcomes and formed a significant interaction with emotional distress in some models. Resilience failed to show a relationship with social participation at 6-month follow-up, when controlling for baseline social participation.Conclusions: Though related to emotional distress, self-reported resilience makes a unique contribution to predicting outcomes over time following brain injury, and may impact the relationship between stress and negative participation outcomes. As such, it is possible interventions that promote resilience may mitigate distress and promote community integration.

Gender differences in employment and economic quality of life following traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: Due to limited systematic research on gender differences in health and quality of life outcomes following traumatic brain injury (TBI), the present study sought to contribute to the growing literature on gender differences in postinjury employment while also adding an examination of postinjury economic quality of life, an emerging area in disability research. METHOD: Independent variables included demographic and injury characteristics. Outcome variables included postinjury employment and economic quality of life, measured by the Participation Assessment With Recombined Tools-Objective and the Economic QOL, respectively. Hypotheses that women would experience poorer outcomes in postinjury employment and economic quality of life were tested with logistic and linear regression models. RESULTS: Postinjury employment was associated with gender, higher educational attainment, and preinjury employment. Those with greater injury severity and those identifying as Black or African American were less likely to be employed postinjury. For men and women who were unemployed prior to injury, the odds of postinjury employment for men were 184% higher than for women. Men reported significantly greater economic quality of life. Contrary to hypotheses, postinjury employment was inversely related to economic quality of life in the final model. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that if unemployed prior to injury, women with TBI are less likely to be employed postinjury and also experience decreased economic quality of life postinjury, regardless of employment status. Although further research is needed to determine which strategies will improve economic quality of life for women with TBI, clinicians may utilize these preliminary findings to guide treatment and advocacy efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Patient Health Questionnaire depression screener in spinal cord injury.

CONTEXT: Although depression is not inevitable following spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D), it can have a negative impact on rehabilitation. Evidence-based assessment of depression utilizing self-report instruments, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), is considered good clinical practice. Although the PHQ-9 has been studied in individuals with SCI/D, little is known about the clinical utility of the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). Traditional cutoff scores for the PHQ-2 were examined to explore their operating characteristics as related to PHQ-9 results. METHODS: Archival data were collected for 116 Veterans with SCI/D who completed the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 as one component of their routine, comprehensive SCI annual evaluation at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Logistic regressions were performed to determine the impact of different cutoff scores for the PHQ-2 on the likelihood that participants would endorse clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms on the PHQ-9 (≥10). RESULTS: Using a cutoff score of 3 or greater correctly classified 94.8% of the cases, outperforming the other cutoff scores. A cutoff score of 3 or greater had a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 97.8%, and yielded a positive predictive value of 90.9% and a negative predictive value of 95.7%. CONCLUSION: The PHQ-2 shows promise as a clinically useful screener in the community-residing SCI/D population. Findings regarding the presence of suicidal ideation emphasize the importance of routine screening for depressive symptomatology in the SCI/D population. Future research should investigate the role of the PHQ-2 in clinical decision-making and treatment monitoring.

Development, reliability, and validity of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview for Vietnamese refugees: a diagnostic instrument for Vietnamese refugees.

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview for Vietnamese Refugees (PTSD-IVR) was created specifically to assess for the presence of current and lifetime history of premigration, migration, encampment, and postmigration traumas in Vietnamese refugees. The purpose of the present study was to describe the development of and investigate the interrater and test-retest reliability of the PTSD-IVR and its validity in relation to the diagnoses obtained from the Longitudinal, Expert, and All Data (LEAD; Spitzer, 1983) standard. Clinicians conducted the diagnosis process with 127 Vietnamese refugees using the LEAD standard and the PTSD-IVR. Assessment of the reliability and validity of the PTSD-IVR yielded good to excellent AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; .86, .87) and κ values (.66, .74) indicating the reliability of the PTSD-IVR and the agreement between the LEAD procedure and the PTSD-IVR. The results of the present study suggest that the PTSD-IVR performs successfully as a diagnostic instrument specifically created for Vietnamese refugees in their native language.

Outcome measure to assess head-down bed rest subject performance.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to develop an objective outcome measure to assess the performance of head-down bed rest subjects. The rationale behind the development was that the current outcome measure is subjective and dependent upon how much the clinical psychologist knows about subject behaviors during the study to rate them accurately. METHODS: The behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) were developed through the use of the critical incident technique, along with traditional BARS development procedures, and the use of focus groups. RESULTS: Use of these methodologies yielded 86 usable critical incidents, which were used as anchors for the scales. DISCUSSION: Further research will be necessary to determine whether or not associations exist between data from the BARS and psychological screening data.