Fatigue after closed head injury
Date
2018-07-06
Authors
Allison, Deborah Sue
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Abstract
Closed head injuries are common occurrences in North
America. Subsequent to a closed head injury (CHI), there
are a number of symptoms which are commonly seen, one of
which is fatigue. No studies were found which specifically
address the issue of fatigue following CHI. Much remains
unknown about this symptom, such as the percentage of
individuals who experience fatigue as a problem after a CHI,
the relationship between the degree of fatigue experienced
and the severity of the injury, and the length of time that
this problem persists following the injury. The present
study explores and describes the problem of fatigue in a
population of individuals following a CHI.
In this study, 28 individuals who had experienced a CHI
(14 with minor injuries and 14 with severe injuries) were
each paired with a control subject who had not had a CHI and
who was matched to the CHI subject in terms of age, sex, and
personality characteristics. All subjects were asked to
complete two brief questionnaires, two computerized tasks,
and two self-report measures. All 28 subject pairs
completed the first four measures and 22 of the pairs
completed and returned the last two. The results showed a
highly significant difference between the CHI and control
groups on all measures. There were no differences between
the CHI subgroups (minor end severe) on any of the measures,
nor was there a relationship found between length of post
traumatic amnesia or length of time post-injury and any of
the measures, There was an interaction between the results
on the measure of depression and four of the other five
variables Further analysis demonstrated differences
between the CHI and control groups on all measures after the
depression scores were taken into account.
These results indicate that fatigue is a serious, long lasting
problem for this groups of individuals who have
experienced a CHI. Suggestions for future research and for
treatment are discussed.
Description
Keywords
Head, wounds and injuries