160 Traumatic brain injury research: innovative methods, lessons learned, and advancing the field

Abstract

Statement of purpose This symposium will highlight innovative methods used in TBI research and interventions, and discuss needed advancement in the field over the next decade. Topic description/Audience engagement TBI is a complex medical and public health issue, one that requires more consistent and collective conversations surrounding targeted efforts. This symposium will provide a platform for discussion of lessons learned from recent, innovative TBI research and will engage the audience in conversations concerning where clinical and non-clinical practitioners and researchers should be headed. As part of the conversation, researchers from Injury Control Research Centres (ICRCs) will elicit interactive discussions and practical steps for change within the next decade of TBI research. Speaker descriptions: 1.) Ecologic Momentary Assessment use among Youth post-TBI –Douglas Wiebe, Kit Delgado, Christina Master. Physical and cognitive rest are recommended as the cornerstone of treatment for concussion, largely based on expert opinion. However, it is unclear whether physical and cognitive rest aid recovery in youth with a concussion. We have developed a protocol that uses ecologic momentary assessment to follow youth for 4 weeks after they sustain a concussion, to gather real-time reports of cognitive and physical activity and real-time symptom reports. We developed an electronic platform that enrols concussion patients from paediatric and adult emergency departments and sports medicine clinics. This presentation will discuss the role of physical and cognitive rest and activity in recovery from concussion, the electronic platform, and how its real-time updates can be used by physicians and in clinical trials of therapies for concussion. 2.) Concussion Reporting among Collegiate Athletes and Academy Cadets –Paula Gildner, Johna Register. This presentation will discuss a theory driven data collection instrument, that was used to establish baseline normative characteristics, knowledge, intentions, and attitudes and beliefs associated with concussion reporting and symptom disclosure among collegiate, student-athletes and service academy cadets. We will also discuss the development of and preliminary data from an intervention program, based on the aforementioned instrument, which aimed to improve concussion-related normative perceptions, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours among these emerging adults. The efficacy and implementation of the intervention will be discussed. 3.) Examining TBI Research Methods The Intersection of Injury prevention, Neuroscience, Medicine, and Public Policy –Wayne Gordon. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a cross-cutting injury and disease that intersects with neuroscience, injury prevention and control, medicine, and public policy. While over the past decade there have been significant financial resources and energy invested into TBI research, there is much to be learned. This presentation will discuss major areas of TBI research that require in depth exploration. For example, we know little about: the cascade of events that occur after the brain is injured; TBI as a chronic health condition, the long-term effects of concussion (sports and non-sports related) in youth; reducing TBI as a risk factor for social failure in terms of violence, substance abuse, homelessness and suicidality, and the policy issues that impact the adoption of validated approaches to screening for TBI and the provision of needed interventions.