Educational skills: Long-term outcome and predictors following paediatric traumatic brain injury

• Published in: Neuropsychological rehabilitation 2009-10, Vol.19 (5), p.716-732
• Main Authors: Catroppa, Cathy, Anderson, Vicki A., Muscara, Frank, Morse, Sue A., Haritou, Flora, Rosenfeld, Jeffrey V., Heinrich, Liesl M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Factors; Arithmetic; Biological and medical sciences; Brain injured children; Brain Injuries - diagnosis; Brain Injuries - pathology; Child; Child clinical studies; Child, Preschool; Childhood; Children; Educational Measurement; Educational Status; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Head injury; Humans; Injuries of the nervous system and the skull. Diseases due to physical agents; Intelligence; Intelligence Tests; Literacy; Male; Mathematical Concepts; Medical sciences; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Prognosis; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reading; Recovery; Severity; Severity of Illness Index; Spelling; Time Factors; Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents; Traumatic brain injury; Writing
• ISSN: 0960-2011; 1464-0694
• DOI: 10.1080/09602010902732868

Given that reading, spelling and arithmetic skills are acquired through childhood, their development may be compromised following a childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI). The present study examined educational skills (reading accuracy, spelling and arithmetic) at a mean follow-up interval of 6.8 years post-injury in children who had sustained a mild, moderate, or severe TBI at two ages: 'Young' (age at injury: 3-7 years, n = 48) and 'Old': (age at injury: 8-12 years, n = 36). Comparisons between the young and old TBI groups resulted in inconsistent findings. While a dose-response relationship for severity was evident for the young group, this was not always the case for the old group. Significant predictors of outcome included both severity and acute intellectual function.