ABI Trajectories

Description

Trajectories and Consequences: Long-term follow-up of children and youth and their families after acquired brain injury (ABI Trajectories Study)

ABI Trajectories Study

Acquired brain injury (ABI) is one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability among children. The consequences of ABI include physical, cognitive, behavioural, medical, social, and economic outcomes. Recovery from childhood ABI varies a great deal among children. Existing research on the prognosis for childhood ABI generally fails to identify children early in the course of recovery, and also fails to follow-up with all children across the spectrum of injury severity. As a result, little is known about the medium and long-term consequences of ABI among children. This is particularly true for children with mild to moderate ABI who may show clinically important difficulties in the future, in spite of apparently early and complete recovery in the months immediately following injury.

This present study builds on a completed project which followed children/youth who were admitted to McMaster Children's Hospital with a diagnosis of ABI over a period of up to 24 months. The present study continues to follow the same group of children, youth, and their families for another 3-4 years to explore the long-term effects of ABI.

The main objectives of the study are:

  • to establish recovery trajectories spanning 5 to 7 years for key functional, psychosocial, and academic outcomes, for children with mild, moderate, and severe ABI;
  • to investigate the extent of neuropsychological impairments which persist at 5 years following ABI; and 
  • to investigate how severity of injury and other key clinical variables predict long-term outcomes for children with ABI.

 

Research Team

  • Principal Investigators:
    - Carol DeMatteo
    - Steven Hanna

  • Co-Investigators:
    - Mary Law
    - Louise Scott
    - William Mahoney
    - Anne Newman

  • Research Coordinator:
    - Chia-Yu Lin

For more information, please contact Chia-Yu Lin, research coordinator

 

Funders

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2005-2009)

 

Outcomes/(Measures)

  • Baseline Medical Variables:
    -     Extracted from medical records at the time of injury as part of the previously completed project

  • Academic Performance:
    -     Academic Performance Rating Scale (APRS)
    - Ontario Student Record (OSR)

  • Quality of Life:
    - Child Health Questionnaire - Parent Form 28 (CHQ-PF28)
    - World Health Organization Quality of Life Measure - 100 items (WHOQOL-100)

  • Self-Perception:
    -     Self Description Questionnaire-I, -II, -III (SDQ-I; SDQ-II; SDQ-III)

  • Behaviour Problems:
    - Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

  • Participation:
    - Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE)
    - World Health Organization Quality of Life Measure - 100 items (WHOQOL-100)

  • Parental and Family Environment: 
    - MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)
    - Impact on Family Scale (IOFS)

  • Neuropsychological Functioning:
    - Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI)
    - Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS-III) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale of Children III (WISC-III)
    - California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and California Verbal Learning Test for Children (CVLT-C)
    - Rey Complex Figure Test and Recognition Trial (RCFT)
    - Grooved Pegboard
    - Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)
    - Delis Kaplan Executive Function System (DK-EFS)
    - Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)

 

Surveys

If you have already received the username and password for the ABI Trajectories Study online survey, and you would like to access it, please contact the research coordinator, Chia-Yu Lin, for further instruction.

 

Newsletters

 

Presentations

  • DeMatteo, C., Hanna, S., Mahoney, W., Law, M., Warriner, E., Scott, L., Lin, C., & Yousefi-Nooraie, R. (2010). Neuropsychological Outcomes in Children and Youth after Acquired Brain Injury: A Long-Term Perspective [Abstract]. Brain Injury, 24(3), 419-420.
    - This oral presentation was given at the Eighth World Congress on Brain Injury, Washington, DC, USA.
  • DeMatteo, C., Hanna, S., Mahoney, W., Law, M., Abdel-Motagally, M., Lin, C., & Yousefi-Nooraie, R. (2010). The Long-Term Quality of Life in Children, Youth, and Young Adults after Acquired Brain Injury [Abstract]. Brain Injury, 24(3), 418. 
    - This poster presentation was given at the Eighth World Congress on Brain Injury, Washington, DC, USA.
  • Mahoney, W., DeMatteo, C., Hanna, S., Hollenberg, R., Scott, L., Newman, A., Law, M., Lin, C., & Xu, L. (2008). Trajectories and predictors of recovery in children with acquired brain injury [Abstract]. Brain Injury, 22(Suppl.1), 56. 
    - This oral presentation was given at the Seventh World Congress on Brain Injury, Lisbon, Portugal.