Authors' objectives:

The aim of this report is to conduct a systematic review of the literature about child and adolescent traumatic brain injury (TBI) oriented around key questions and to create a tool that would be used in future evidence-based investigations about recovery from TBI in this population.

Authors' recommendations: In general, studies have not been conducted with designs capable of providing evidence for effectiveness of interventions for children and adolescents with TBI. Because the focus of this project was effectiveness, many studies were excluded because they did not provide experimental evidence that could be used to guide practice. The published literature for this topic is primarily exploratory. It provides descriptions of programs that are widely accepted, including logical approaches to treatment that have not been validated either through experimental design or in carefully controlled observational studies. The clinical experience represented in the published literature that has guided the design of intervention programs should generate important hypotheses for controlled studies. Investigations of what might work to rehabilitate children with TBI may benefit from the literature in other related fields. Future research could be guided by themes that have emerged across many disability groups. Although TBI has unique features, it shares many characteristics with other disabilities. The task is to identify the shared characteristics, and include what has been learned in other fields when designing interventions. One example is social skills training. Certain models for social skills training and cognitive rehabilitation have been shown to be ineffective with people who have other, similar disabilities, yet these models are being used in TBI rehabilitation. At the very least, the failure of these interventions in other fields should call into question their effectiveness with TBI. Similarly, it is important to pay attention to and systematically test successful approaches in other fields.

Authors' methods: Review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://archive.ahrq.gov/clinic/tp/tbi2tp.htm

Year Published: 1999

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: United States

Organisation Name: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Contact Address: Center for Outcomes and Evidence Technology Assessment Program, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Tel: +1 301 427 1610; Fax: +1 301 427 1639;

Contact Name: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Contact Email: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Copyright: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)