Early conversational discourse abilities following traumatic brain injury: an acute predictive study.

Primary Objective: To date, little information is available regarding communication and conversational discourse proficiency post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the acute care phase. The main goal of this study was to examine how conversational discourse impairment following TBI predicts early outcome. Factors which influence conversational discourse performance were also explored.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment in persons with traumatic brain injury.

The objective of this study was to examine the performance of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The MoCA was administered to 214 patients with TBI during their acute care hospitalization in a Level 1 trauma center. The results showed that patients with severe TBI had lower scores on the MoCA compared with patients with mild and moderate TBI, F(2, 211) = 10.

Acute evaluation of conversational discourse skills in traumatic brain injury.

This study looked at performance on the conversational discourse checklist of the Protocole Montréal d'évaluation de la communication (D-MEC) in 195 adults with TBI of all severity hospitalized in a Level 1 Trauma Centre. To explore validity, results were compared to findings on tests of memory, mental flexibility, confrontation naming, semantic and letter category naming, verbal reasoning, and to scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The relationship to outcome as measured with the Disability Rating Scale (DRS), the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS-E), length of stay, and discharge destinations was also determined.

The mini-mental state examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment after traumatic brain injury: an early predictive study.

Primary Objective: To compare results on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) to those on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to predict the outcome at discharge from the acute care setting.

Research Design: A retrospective study.

Methods And Procedures: The MoCA and the MMSE were administered to 214 patients with TBI during their acute care hospitalization in a Level I trauma centre.

Criterion validity of a functional cognitive task in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

Primary Objective: To verify criterion validity of measures from a functional cognitive task (FCT) carried out with patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) at 2-5 years post-injury.

Methods And Procedures: Forty-six patients with sTBI took part in a long-term outcome study where the FCT and the Neurobehavioural Rating Scale-Revised (NBRS-R) were administered and the FIM™ instrument was rated. The FCT is a telephone information gathering task for evaluating functional cognitive skills.

Clock drawing and mini-mental state examination in patients with traumatic brain injury.

The aim of this study was to compare the performances of patients with mild, moderate, and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and neuropsychological measures as well as to correlate these measures with outcome assessed by the Extended Glasgow Outcome Score. This study was conducted in an acute care early rehabilitation setting on 102 patients with mild, 30 with moderate, and 30 with severe TBI. Patients with moderate and severe TBI showed more impairment on the CDT compared with those with mild TBI.

Neuroanatomical correlates of the clock drawing test in patients with traumatic brain injury.

Objective: The clock drawing test (CDT) is a quick and easy to administer test that has traditionally shown parietal lobe dysfunction. The aim of this study was to correlate performance on the CDT with the presence of acute traumatic cerebral injuries sustained after traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 170 patients with TBI of all severity admitted to an acute care setting.

Long-term outcome after severe traumatic brain injury: the McGill interdisciplinary prospective study.

Objective: To obtain a comprehensive understanding of long-term outcome after severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI).

Participants: Forty-six patients with sTBI.

Design: Comparison of interdisciplinary evaluation results at discharge from acute care and at 2 to 5 year follow-up.

North Star Project: reality orientation in an acute care setting for patients with traumatic brain injuries.

The North Star Project is an acute care rehabilitation approach for patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injuries. This patient-centered project uses the concepts of Reality Orientation Therapy to develop a unique approach that focuses "environment," "consistency" and "standardization" to promote a total team effort. Patients, treatment staff and members of the patient's family collaborate in a unified bedside protocol that stimulates orientation, encourages patients' appropriate interactions and aims to decrease the length of post-traumatic amnesia.