Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention on Reducing Misconceptions Among Ethnic Minorities With Complicated Mild to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention designed to reduce traumatic brain injury (TBI)–related misconceptions among blacks and Latinos with complicated mild to severe TBI. DesignRandomized controlled trial with masked 1-month follow-up. SettingCommunity. ParticipantsPersons (N=52) with complicated mild to severe TBI (mean best day 1 Glasgow Coma Scale score, 11.27±3.89) were randomly recruited from 141 eligible participants (mean age, 37.71±13.88y; age range, 19–66y; mean months postinjury, 24.69±11.50); 25 participants (48.1%) of participants were black and 27 (51.9%) were Hispanic/Latino. Of the Hispanic/Latino participants, 18 (66.7%) were non-U.S. born and 12 (44.4%) spoke Spanish as their primary language. Twenty-seven individuals were randomized to the educational intervention group and 25 were randomized to the wait-list control group. InterventionsSingle-session educational intervention with written materials provided in English or Spanish. Main Outcome MeasuresForty-item Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire administered at baseline and 1-month follow-up. ResultsAfter controlling for ethnic and language differences, a significant between-group main effect (P=.010) and a significant time-group interaction for the Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire were noted (Wilks Λ=.89; F1,46=6.00; P=.02). The intervention group showed a decrease in TBI misconception percentages, whereas the wait-list control group maintained similar percentages. At 1-month follow-up, the wait-list control group reported more misconceptions than did the intervention group (P=.019). ConclusionsAn educational intervention developed to address the recovery process, common symptoms, and ways to handle the symptoms provides promise as a tool to decrease TBI misconceptions among persons from ethnically and educationally diverse backgrounds. The effects of therapist characteristics and the client-therapist relation on outcomes should be further explored.