Citation

Furger RE, Nelson LD, Lerner EB, McCrea MA. Concussion 2016; 1(2): e11.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, The Drake Foundation, Publisher Future Medicine)

DOI

10.2217/cnc.15.11

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

AIM: Determine the frequency of factors that complicate identification of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in emergency department patients. Setting: Chart review. Materials & methods: Records of 3042 patients (age 18-45 years) exposed to a potential mechanism of mTBI were reviewed for five common complicating factors and signs of mTBI.

RESULTS: Most patients (65.1%) had at least one complicating factor: given narcotics in the emergency department (43.7%), on psychotropic medication (18.4%), psychiatric diagnosis (15.3%), alcohol consumption near time of admission (14.2%) and preadmission narcotic prescription (8.9%).

CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the frequency of these confounding factors in this population. Future research should identify how these factors interact with performance on assessment measures to improve evidence-based mTBI assessment in this population.

Language: en