TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive performance in older people after mild traumatic brain injury
T2 - Trauma effects and other risk factors
AU - Hume, Camilla
AU - Mitra, Biswadev
AU - Wright, Bradley
AU - Kinsella, Glynda Jane
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © INS. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2022.
PY - 2023/8/14
Y1 - 2023/8/14
N2 - Objective: Cognitive symptoms are common in the initial weeks after mTBI, but recovery is generally expected within three months. However, there is limited information about recovery specifically in older age cohorts. Therefore, this study investigated cognitive outcome three months after mTBI in older adults (≥ 65 years) compared to trauma and community age-matched controls and explored risk factors for outcome after traumatic injury. Methods: Older mTBI patients (n = 40) and older adults with mild traumatic injury but without head injury (n = 66) were compared to a noninjured community control group (n = 47). Cognitive assessment included neuropsychological and computerized tests. Group differences were compared on individual tasks and overall cognitive performances using composite scores. Regression analyses identified predictors of outcome for trauma patients and moderator analyses explored possible interactions of mTBI severity with age and cognition. Results: As well as lower performances in processing speed and memory, both trauma groups had significantly lower performance on composite neuropsychological (d =.557 and.670) and computerized tasks (d =.783 and.824) compared to noninjured controls. Age, education, and history of depression were direct predictors of cognitive performance after mild traumatic injury (with or without head injury). Further moderation analysis demonstrated that mTBI severity (Glasgow Coma Scale < 15) moderated the impact of older age on computerized assessment (β = -.138). Conclusions: Three months after mild trauma (regardless of head injury), older people demonstrate lower cognition compared to noninjured peers. However, severity of mTBI (Glasgow Coma Scale < 15) can interact with older age to predict poorer cognitive outcomes.
AB - Objective: Cognitive symptoms are common in the initial weeks after mTBI, but recovery is generally expected within three months. However, there is limited information about recovery specifically in older age cohorts. Therefore, this study investigated cognitive outcome three months after mTBI in older adults (≥ 65 years) compared to trauma and community age-matched controls and explored risk factors for outcome after traumatic injury. Methods: Older mTBI patients (n = 40) and older adults with mild traumatic injury but without head injury (n = 66) were compared to a noninjured community control group (n = 47). Cognitive assessment included neuropsychological and computerized tests. Group differences were compared on individual tasks and overall cognitive performances using composite scores. Regression analyses identified predictors of outcome for trauma patients and moderator analyses explored possible interactions of mTBI severity with age and cognition. Results: As well as lower performances in processing speed and memory, both trauma groups had significantly lower performance on composite neuropsychological (d =.557 and.670) and computerized tasks (d =.783 and.824) compared to noninjured controls. Age, education, and history of depression were direct predictors of cognitive performance after mild traumatic injury (with or without head injury). Further moderation analysis demonstrated that mTBI severity (Glasgow Coma Scale < 15) moderated the impact of older age on computerized assessment (β = -.138). Conclusions: Three months after mild trauma (regardless of head injury), older people demonstrate lower cognition compared to noninjured peers. However, severity of mTBI (Glasgow Coma Scale < 15) can interact with older age to predict poorer cognitive outcomes.
KW - aged (MeSH)
KW - brain Concussion (MeSH)
KW - cognition (MeSH)
KW - mTBI
KW - neuropsychological assessment
KW - older age
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164242774&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1355617722000674
DO - 10.1017/S1355617722000674
M3 - Article
C2 - 36102332
AN - SCOPUS:85164242774
SN - 1355-6177
VL - 29
SP - 651
EP - 661
JO - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
JF - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
IS - 7
ER -