Recovery patterns of body functions and activities of daily living performance across the progression and resolution of posttraumatic amnesia.

Abstract

Objective: Posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is characterized by multiple cognitive and behavioral changes including memory impairment and disorientation. This study aimed to measure changes and relationships between key body functions and activities of daily living (ADL) performance throughout PTA progression and resolution.

Method: A longitudinal observational study was conducted with 24 participants in PTA. PTA was measured daily with the Westmead PTA Scale (WPTAS). As participants achieved a new score on the WPTAS, measures of agitation, attention, balance, visual perception, visual motor and ADL performance were taken. The data were analyzed descriptively and significant improvements in functions were identified using Friedman´s rank tests with post-hoc testing. Relationships between variables were examined using Spearman's rank order correlations.

Results: As PTA resolved, there were gradual and significant improvements in all variables except for visual motor performance. Attention was significantly better when scoring >8-9 on the WPTAS. There were significant correlations between body functions and ADL performance at different timepoints.

Conclusion: Understanding these gradual and interrelated improvements of functions during PTA may facilitate more precise assessment and earlier introduction of interventions to enhance patient outcomes.