Long term behavioural, psychiatric and cognitive outcomes following mild head injury in childhood

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Psychology
Degree name
Master of Arts
Publisher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
2000
Authors
McKinlay, Audrey
Abstract

Mild head injury is generally considered to be a common but benign childhood event. Previous studies investigating potential cognitive and behavioural consequences have produced mixed findings and controversial outcomes, in part due to a number of methodological difficulties. The present study used a longitudinal birth cohort (initiated in 1977) which permitted the use of a fully prospective design. Of the total original cohort of 1265 children, 134 sought medical attention for a mild head injury with confirmed or suspected concussion occurring between birth and ten years of age. The children were grouped into those who received medical attention at an outpatient facility (n = 96) and those who were hospitalised overnight for observation (n = 36). The remainder of the cohort acted as a reference group against which outcomes for the head injured groups were compared. After controlling for a wide range of demographic, family and preĀ­ injury characteristics, the mild head injury inpatient group but not the outpatient group displayed increased attentional and conduct difficulties, as rated by mothers and teachers. These difficulties were evident over 7-13 years in the inpatient subgroup who experienced an injury between 0-5 years and over 10-13 years in the complete inpatient sample. Similar trends were evident in the 6-10 year inpatient subgroup but these findings failed to reach significance. In terms of psychiatric outcomes (DSM-III-R) evaluated when the children were between 14 and 16 years, significant head injury status effects were found for conduct disorder and substance abuse for children in the 0-5 year olds. When analysed according to severity, increased problems were evident for the 0-10 inpatient group on measures of substance abuse, the 0-5 inpatient group on substance abuse ADHD, and CD/ODD, and mood disorders in the the 6-10 outpatient group. These findings strongly suggest that mild head injury in childhood may produce long term adverse outcomes. Therefore, it seems premature to regard all mild head injuries as a benign childhood event.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Head--Wounds and injuries--Psychological aspects, Brain--Wounds and injuries--Psychological aspects, Children--Wounds and injuries--Psychological aspects
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
All Rights Reserved