COGNITIVE SEQUELAE IN SURVIVORS OF TRAUMATIC FRONTAL LOBE INJURY: COMPARISON BETWEEN MILD AND MODERATE INJURY EFFECTS

Congnitive Sequelae in Survivors of Traumatic Frontal Lobe Injury

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of cognitive deficits in the survivors of traumatic frontal lobe injury of mild to moderate severity.
Study Design: Mix method study.
Place and Duration of Study: Nishter Hospital Multan, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur and Sheikh Zaid Hospital Rahim Yar Khan, from Sep 2010 to Jun 2011.
Material and Methods: The sample consisted of 55 participants. Fifteen of these were taken from healthy population with the age range of 20-30 years (Mean = 25.7 ± SD = 4.6) and 40 participants were medically documented patients of frontal lobe injury of mild (20) to moderate (20) severity. The age range of mild traumatic frontal lobe injury patients was 20-32 years (Mean= 26.5 ± SD = 4.9). The age range of moderate severity patients was also 20-32 years (Mean= 26.4 ± SD = 5.0). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale revised and case history interview were administered to determine cognitive deficits following traumatic frontal lobe injury.
Results: Statistical test, one way analysis was used to compare the performance of all these three (control, mild and moderate) groups. Results of present study reflected that cognitive deficits like memory deficits, language problems, trouble in concentrating and difficulty in planning are the major consequences of traumatic frontal lobe injury.
Conclusion: To conclude, frontal lobe injury patients not only showed poor performance in clinically-driven structured and comprehensive memory tests when they were compared with healthy people but their performance also varied according to the severity of injury.