Efficacy of cognitive intervention using CogSMART in the management of cognitive problems in mild traumatic brain injury

Pages: 1008-1011
Shanthi Kannan (Department of Research and Development, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)
V. Chandramohan (UGC Visiting Professor, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu)
S. Ramesh Kannan (Department of Neurology, PIMS, Pondicherry)

Cognitive impairment in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI), which is usually ignored, may persist into later period of life in some individuals, affecting the functional recovery, like returning back to normal. Neuropsychological assessment plays a pivotal role before and after the management. The aim of the present study is to measure the memory impairment, following mTBI, and to find out the efficacy of Cognitive Symptom Management and Rehabilitation Therapy (CogSMART) in the management of neuropsychological issues among minor head injured individuals for duration of twelve weeks. PGI Memory Scale, a subtest of PGI battery of Brain Dysfunction has been administered to the subjects, before and after Cognitive Retraining. The objective of the present study is to measure the level of various cognitive skills such as intelligence and memory among head injured subjects. Once it is measured at an early stage, the subject can be rehabilitated easily through Cognitive Retraining. The sample consisted of ninety subjects with mTBI within forty eight hours of admission to the emergency unit of Neurosciences in a Tertiary Care Hospital at Chennai, India. Out of ninety, sixty six patients, who are having memory impairment, are divided into two homogenous Groups – Control and Experimental Groups: thirty three subjects each are assigned to Control and Experimental Groups. Experimental Group is exposed to CogSMART for duration of twelve weeks, which includes psychoeducation, regarding TBI: strategies to improve sleep, fatigue, headaches, tension, compensatory cognitive strategies in the domains of prospective memory, attention, learning and memory and executive functioning. On the other hand, Control Group is not exposed to any such intervention. Pretest and Posttest Dysfunction Rating scores of both the Groups are compared. Results clearly indicate that there is a significant improvement (p <0.0001) on memory of the Experimental Group, compared to the Control Group. Findings of the present study have proved the fact that CogSMART is one of the most effective techniques of improving cognitive dysfunction among individuals with mTBI. Cognitive Rehabilitation helps to increase the efficiency in the workplace and happiness in the family life.