Publications by authors named "Caroline M Van Heugten"

Long-term cognitive impairment is common in cardiac arrest survivors. Screening to identify patients at risk is recommended. Functional magnetic resonance brain imaging (fMRI) holds potential to contribute to prediction of cognitive outcomes.

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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an adapted ACT intervention (BrainACT) in people who experience anxiety and/or depressive symptoms following acquired brain injury.

Methods: The study is a multicentre randomized controlled two-arm parallel trial. In total, 72 people who survived a stroke or traumatic brain injury were randomized into an eight-session ACT or control (i.

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Background: Case management (CM) aims to facilitate access to and integration of health care and social services. We investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of CM.

Methods: Randomized controlled trial with 219 patients and 114 caregivers randomly allocated to CM (109/59) or care as usual (110/55).

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Introduction: There is still much uncertainty about why some people develop persistent cognitive and mental health problems after SARS-CoV-2 infection and require additional care while others do not. In this study, we investigated the cognitive and psychological outcomes of non-hospitalized post-COVID-19 patients referred to an outpatient post-COVID-19 clinic for persistent symptoms more than 3 months after infection. Additionally, we aimed to explore the influence of demographic, physical, and personal factors on these outcomes.

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Aim: Around six percent of comatose patients after cardiac arrest have a Cerebral Performance Categories score of three (CPC3) at six months after the arrest, classified as severe neurological disability. There is limited knowledge regarding the likelihood of further recovery in the cognitive, emotional, and quality of life domains. We aimed to estimate the probability of recovery towards independency.

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It is unclear how self-reported severe fatigue and difficulty concentrating after SARS-CoV-2 infection relate to objective neuropsychological functioning. The study aimed to compare neuropsychological functioning between individuals with and without these persistent subjective complaints. : Individuals with and without persistent severe fatigue (Checklist Individual Strength (CIS) fatigue ≥ 35) and difficulty concentrating (CIS concentration ≥ 18) at least 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection were included.

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Introduction: Design fluency (DF) tasks are commonly used to assess executive functions such as attentional control, cognitive flexibility, self-monitoring and strategy use. Next to the total number of correct designs, the standard outcome of a DF task, clustering and switching can help disentangle the processes underlying DF performance. We present the first longitudinal study of 4-8-year-old children's developmental DF trajectories.

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Objective: Psychometrically sound measures of catastrophizing about symptoms and fear avoidance behavior are needed to further applications of the fear-avoidance model in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) for research and clinical purposes. To this end, two questionnaires were adapted (minor), the Postconcussion Symptom Catastrophizing Scale (PCS-CS) and the Fear of Mental Activity Scale (FMA). This study aimed to investigate the factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent and construct validity of two adapted questionnaires in a sample of participants with mTBI compared to participants with orthopedic injury and healthy adults.

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Background: Detecting cognitive impairments early after stroke is essential for appropriate referrals. Although recommended in stroke guidelines, early cognitive screening is not always implemented. We assessed whether the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) adds diagnostic value compared to clinical observation alone.

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Objective: After a concussion, 1 in 3 patients report persistent symptoms and experience long-term consequences interfering with daily functioning, known as persistent concussion symptoms (PCS). Evidence suggests PCS is (partly) maintained by anxious thoughts about brain functioning, recovery, and experienced symptoms, leading to avoidance behaviors, which may prevent patients from meeting life demands. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of a newly developed intensive exposure intervention for individuals with PCS after concussion aimed to tackle avoidance behavior.

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Objective: To determine whether cognitive learning potential measured with the dynamic Wisconsin Card Sorting Test has added value in predicting rehabilitation outcome in elderly patients post-stroke after controlling for age, ADL independence at admission, global cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms.

Methods: Participants were patients with stroke admitted to a geriatric rehabilitation unit. ADL independence (Barthel Index) at discharge was used as measure for rehabilitation outcome.

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Objective: To evaluate whether psychological and social factors complement biomedical factors in understanding post-COVID-19 fatigue and cognitive complaints. Additionally, to incorporate objective (neuro-cognitive) and subjective (patient-reported) variables in identifying factors related to post-COVID-19 fatigue and cognitive complaints.

Design: Prospective, multicenter cohort study.

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Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for people with acquired brain injury.

Design: A process evaluation of the BrainACT treatment was conducted alongside a randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Psychology departments of hospitals and rehabilitation centres.

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Objective: To assess effects of the CARE4Carer blended care intervention on caregiver mastery and psychosocial functioning compared with usual care in partners of patients with acquired brain injury (ABI).

Design: Multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Nine sites for rehabilitation medicine.

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Introduction: The risk factors for persistent fatigue and cognitive complaints after infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the underlying pathophysiology are largely unknown. Both clinical factors and cognitive-behavioural factors have been suggested to play a role in the perpetuation of complaints. A neurobiological aetiology, such as neuroinflammation, could be the underlying pathophysiological mechanism for persisting complaints.

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Aim: Rhythmic and periodic patterns (RPPs) on the electroencephalogram (EEG) in comatose patients after cardiac arrest have been associated with high case fatality rates. A good neurological outcome according to the Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC) has been reported in up to 10% of cases. Data on cognitive, emotional, and quality of life outcomes are lacking.

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The number of older individuals that live independently at home is rising. These older individuals often rely on caregivers who have a similar age and health status. Therefore, caregivers may experience a high burden.

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Impairments of memory, attention, and executive functioning are frequently reported after acute onset brain injury. MRI markers hold potential to contribute to identification of patients at risk for cognitive impairments and clarification of mechanisms. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize and value the evidence on MRI markers of memory, attention, and executive functioning after acute onset brain injury.

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Background: After stroke, many patients experience problems with participation in daily activities. Improving participation is the main goal in stroke rehabilitation. However, the longitudinal relationship between participation and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) remains unclear.

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Background And Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects the brain, leading to long-term complaints. Studies combining brain abnormalities with objective and subjective consequences are lacking. Long-term structural brain abnormalities, neurological and (neuro)psychological consequences in COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) or general ward were investigated.

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Background: The treatment of anxiety and depressive symptoms following acquired brain injury is complex and more evidence-based treatment options are needed. We are currently evaluating the BrainACT intervention; acceptance and commitment therapy for people with acquired brain injury.

Rationale: This paper describes the theoretical underpinning, the development and content of BrainACT.

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Currently, there is no valid and feasible dynamic test available for assessing learning potential in elderly stroke patients. We designed a dynamic version of the Clock Drawing Task (dCDT) which we compared to the dynamic Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (dWCST). The dWCST has shown adequate validity in adult patients with brain injury but has a long administration time.

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Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) can have lifelong consequences and accordingly, persons with ABI often receive various types of healthcare. Facilities have their own preferences towards measurement instruments used to evaluate patients, impeding data comparison across healthcare settings. In this cross-sectional study, we used the previously developed minimal dataset for persons with ABI (MDS-ABI) to uniformly document and compare characteristics and outcomes of ABI patients in three healthcare settings: (1) residential care (= 21), (2) non-residential care (= 80), and (3) no ABI-related care (= 22).

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Background: Partners of patients with stroke are at high risk for burden, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Previous studies have reported contradictory results and did not investigate these three courses simultaneously. In this study we comprehensively studied the courses and predictors of burden, anxiety and depressive symptoms in partners of patients with stroke during the first two years after stroke.

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