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BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability. More than 80% of TBIs are classified as mild, involving only a brief loss or alteration of consciousness. Even for patients not admitted to the hospital, the economic burden of mild TBI is considerable with many patients not returning to work until 1 to 3 months post-injury and having reduced self-rated productivity for several months thereafter. Concussion or mild TBI is one of the most common forms of combat-related injury.
Most cases of mild TBI recover completely within the first 3 months in terms of both cognitive function and structural integrity viewed via neuroimaging. However, a significant minority continue to complain of cognitive difficulty and other distressing symptoms for months or years post injury. Frequently these complaints involve a constellation of physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms collectively known as postconcussion syndrome (PCS).
Fortunately, there is effective treatment available for patients having sustained a mild TBI and experiencing PCS symptoms or the full PCS syndrome. Brief psychological treatment significantly reduces the severity and duration of PCS symptoms following mild TBI. Several standardized, empirically supported treatment manuals are available. We would like to test these using internet-based administration.
Because the research to date has evaluated the effectiveness of brief psychoeducation only in patients seen during acute admission to the hospital, it is our ultimate goal to test the effectiveness of a web-based treatment approach in subacute and chronic patients. We think the internet might be an efficient delivery mode for this psychoeducation and are developing a prototype to be used in future studies.
OBJECTIVE(S):
The primary purposes of this project are to a) develop a website prototype designed to educate OEF/OIF veterans who sustained a mild TBI in order to reduce the frequency and severity of associated symptoms and b) partner with patient consumers with mild TBI to refine the content, appearance, and protocol of the prototype for use in development of the actual web site.
METHODS:
The proposed study will involve partnering with experts in information technology to develop and beta test a web site prototype with our patients. This program, once pilot tested, will form the basis for an intervention to be tested in the future with a larger patient cohort.
A total of 15 OEF/OIF veteran participants with mild TBI will be recruited to provide us with feedback about the web site prototype, 5 will be involved in the initial planning and 10 will assist with beta testing the prototype.
FINDINGS/RESULTS:
No results at this time.
IMPACT:
Ultimately, as a result of this study, we will study the relative effectiveness of an internet-based intervention against other delivery modalities. We hope to provide the VA with an efficient, inexpensive, portable, user-friendly, and acceptable means to educate and treat individuals suffering with symptoms associated with mild TBI. We will use the data gleaned from this pilot study to develop a randomized control trial to determine relative efficacy, effectiveness, and cost of various treatment approaches aimed at preventing the endurance and escalation of PCS symptoms.
PUBLICATIONS:
None at this time.
DRA:
none
DRE:
none
Keywords:
none
MeSH Terms:
none
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