Cognition in patients with traumatic brain injury measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic

Abstract

Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) undergo cognitive impairment. We aimed to explore the cognition level in patients of all severities with different lesion sites and the effect of demographic variables, lesion site, TBI severity, and the time since the TBI on their cognitive abilities using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-B). A total of 67 patients with TBI were recruited from the Department of Cerebral Surgery at No. 101 Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at out-patient follow up. A regression model was performed to assess the effect of these variables on cognition of TBI patients. As expected, age, education, and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score were found as predictors of cognition of TBI patients. Participants, who were younger, had more years of education, and a higher GCS score had better cognition, respectively. Thus, the results provide evidence for the early detection of possible different cognition impairment of TBI patients. Specifically, these findings can help predict early prognosis for patients in the course of clinical diagnosis and treatment and, thus, allow for early intervention to improve the patients’ quality of life and possible extend their life.