Subjective experience in patients with brain injury and their close relatives before and after a rehabilitation programme

Abstract

This study reports results from 143 adult patients with cerebrovascular accident, traumatic brain injury or other acquired brain injury who underwent a neuropsychologically-based post-acute rehabilitation programme. Immediately pre- and post-programme, patients, as well as close relatives, completed the European Brain Injury Questionnaire (EBIQ) regarding patient symptoms, together with the impact of injury on the relative. Results for the three groups of patients were compared to those of 64 control subjects without brain injury. There were three major findings. First, significantly higher levels of symptoms were found in the patient groups at pre-programme evaluation, compared to the control group.Within the patient groups there were comparatively few differences between the self-reports of the patients and the reports of their relatives. Second, the patients showed significantly reduced levels of symptoms post-programme, both in their self-reports and in their relatives' reports. These levels remained however above those of the control group. Third, the reported impact of the injury to the patient upon their relatives was significantly reduced post-programme. Thus, this study further documents that patient symptoms, and the impact of these on close relatives, may be broadly reduced, but perhaps not eliminated, as a result of neuropsychological rehabilitation.