Long term consequences of childhood head injury 15 year follow-up
Chief Investigator: Associate Professor Cathy Catroppa, Professor Vicki Anderson,
Professor Jeffery Rosenfeld, Professor Michael Ditchfield, Dr Celia Godfrey
Lead Organisation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
TAC Neurotrauma Funding: $512,985
Project Start Date: 26 July 2010 – 25 July 2013
Background:
Over the past decade our research team has systematically followed the progress of a
sample of children sustaining TBI over a 10-year period. The project has an
international reputation, and is unique in terms of length of follow-up, prospective
design and representative well-maintained sample. Our findings challenge the
traditionally held view that children are resilient and recover fully from early brain
insult. Rather, we have found that, up to 10 years post-TBI, many children experience
impairments in physical, cognitive, behavioural and social function which impact on
quality of life. The implication is that these problems will lead to life-long disability,
resulting in high levels of individual, family and community burden. Now, 15 years
post-injury, follow-up of this sample provides an unprecedented opportunity to
document recovery/outcome on standard neuropsychology assessment instruments
and medical resonance imaging, as children move into late adolescence and early
adulthood.
Aims:
The two aims of the study were to improve our understanding of the long-term
consequences of childhood TBI, and to examine factors that contribute to recovery
and outcome of children with TBI.
Methods:
Ninety-one young people aged between 16 and 27 years were assessed 15 years
following recruitment to the original study on measures including neuropsychological
tests, questionnaires covering social and emotional functioning, adaptive behaviour
and self-perception, a standardised clinical interview for psychiatric diagnosis and
symptoms, and an MRI brain scan.
Results:
Addressing our hypotheses outlined in Section C1 published data to date has shown
impairments post childhood TBI in young adults in areas including quality of life,
psychosocial functioning, emotion perception, internalising disorders. To date, we
have also found that age at injury and pre-injury adaptive functioning predicts
cognitive and functional outcome in the very long term post TBI. Preliminary
analysis of the total 15-year dataset suggests that childhood TBI survivors present
with impairments in the areas of memory, social cognition and social functioning,
with significant links to frontal lesions and the integrity of the corpus callosum.
Conclusions:
Future research should follow this group further into adulthood. At this age, healthy
individuals are typically engaged in employment of some kind, often starting their
own families, managing their own finances, and contributing as responsible, lawabiding members of society. Our prospective longitudinal study offers the chance to
examine how these increasing responsibilities are managed by those with a history of
TBI, and to identify areas where intervention in early post-injury days may prevent
later problems.
Publications:
(as at Sep 2012)
MUSCARA F, CATROPPA C, BEAUCHAMP M, ANDERSON VA. Challenges faced and lessons
learned in the development of a new measure of social competence for children and adolescents with
acquired brain injury (ABI). Brain Impairment. 2011;11(2):162-170.
CHEVIGNARD MP, CATROPPA C, GALVIN J, ANDERSON V. Development and evaluation of an
ecological task to assess executive functioning in children post TBI: The Children’s Cooking Task.
Brain Impairment. 2010;11(2):125-143.
BEAUCHAMP MH, CATROPPA C, GODFREY C, MORSE S, ROSENFELD JV, ANDERSON VA.
Selective executive deficits ten years after severe childhood traumatic brain injury. Developmental
Neuropsychology. 2010;36(5):578-595.
ANDERSON V, GODFREY C, ROSENFELD JV, CATROPPA C. (2011) Intellectual ability 10 years
after traumatic brain injury in infancy and childhood: what predicts outcome?, Journal of Neurotrauma
2012, 29(1): 143-153
PONSFORD J, CAMERON P, FITZGERALD M, GRANT M, MICKOCKA-WALUS A. Long term
outcomes after uncomplicated mild traumatic brain injury: A comparison with trauma controls Journal
of Neurotrauma. 2011; 201,28(6):937-946.
CATROPPA C, ANDERSON V, GODFREY C, ROSENFELD JV. Attentional skills 10 years post
paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Brain Injury Brain Injury. 2011;25(9):858-869.
BEAUCHAMP MH, DITCHFIELD M, MALLER JJ, CATROPPA C, GODFREY C, ROSENFELD
JV, KEAN MJ, ANDERSON V. Hippocampus, amygdala and global brain changes 10 years after
childhood traumatic brain injury. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. 2011;29:137143.
CATROPPA C, ANDERSON V, GODFREY C, ROSENFELD JV. Attentional skills 10 years post
paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Brain Injury 25 (9), 858-869.
GREEN L, GODFREY C, SOO C, ANDERSON V, CATROPPA C. Agreement between parentadolescent ratings on psychosocial outcome and quality of life following childhood traumatic brain
injury. Developmental Neurorehabilitation 2012;15(2):105-13.
COOPER JM, EREN S, CATROPPA C, GODFREY C, BEAUCHAMP M, DITCHFIELD M,
ANDERSON V. Do lesion site and severity predict deficits in attentional control after preschool
traumatic brain injury?: A 10 year follow-up. Brain Injury 2007 Mar;21(3):279-92.
ANDERSON V, GODFREY C, ROSENFELD J, CATROPPA C. Predictors of Cognitive Function and
Recovery 10 years after traumatic brain injury in young children. Paediatrics, 129 (2), 254-261.
ANDERSON V, GODFREY C, ROSENFELD JV, CATROPPA C. 10 years outcome from childhood
traumatic brain injury. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 30 (3), 217-224.
Presentations:
(as at Sep 2012)
ROSEMA S, MUSCARA F, ANDERSON V, GODFREY C, EREN S & CATROPPA C. Long-term
social and psychological outcomes following childhood traumatic brain injury. 41st Annual Meeting of
International Neuropsychological Society, February 6-9, 2013, Hawaii, USA.
TAYLOR K, GODFREY C, CATROPPA C & ANDERSON V. Early stress and substance use in
young adults post-childhood TBI. Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 36th Annual
conference, May 2-4, 2013, Hobart, Australia.
RYAN N, GODFREY C, CATROPPA C & ANDERSON V. Predictors of emotion perception, and its
relation to communication and socio-emotional adjustment in young adult survivors of childhood TBI.
Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 36th Annual conference, May 2-4, 2013, Hobart,
Australia.
ROSEMA S, MUSCARA F, ANDERSON V, GODFREY C, EREN S & CATROPPA C. Predictors of
long-term social and psychological outcomes following childhood traumatic brain injury. Australian
Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 36th Annual conference, May 2-4, 2013, Hobart, Australia.
ROSEMA S, MUSCARA F, CATROPPA C, & ANDERSON V. Social and psychological long-term
outcomes after childhood traumatic brain injury. Australian Psychological Society: College of Clinical
Neuropsychology 18th Annual conference, November 22-25, 2012, Launceston, Australia.