The persistence of mood disorders following traumatic brain injury: a 1 year follow-up

Abstract

The study investigated whether the frequency of mood disorders following traumatic brain injury (TBI) increased with time. Consecutive hospital admissions completed the Wimbledon Self-Report Scale at 6 and 12 months post-injury. Scores in the 'borderline/case' range were deemed clinically significant. Seventy-seven of those assessed at 6 months completed the 12 month follow-up. Those lost to follow-up (22) were not more likely to have been classified 'borderline/case' at 6 months. They were more likely to have been 'unoccupied' pre-injury (p= 0.002). The frequency of clinically significant disorders did not change significantly, being 39% at 6 months and 35% 1 year post-injury. The majority of subjects (58) maintained the same clinical classification at both assessments. Eight of the 47 (17%) classified 'normal' at 6 months changed to 'borderline/case' at 12 months. However, 11 of the 30 (37%) classified 'borderline/case' at 6 months were 'normal' at 12 months. The direction of change was not statistically significant (p= 0.5). These findings are consistent with previous research. However, the present study examined a larger sample and included a wider range of injury severity, thereby increasing the generalizability of the findings. Also, a broader spectrum of mood disorders was investigated which adds to previous work specifically on depression.