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Clinical Trial
. 2016 Jan 4;11(1):e0146039.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146039. eCollection 2016.

Neurosensory Symptom Complexes after Acute Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Michael E Hoffer  1   2   3 , Mikhaylo Szczupak  1   2 , Alexander Kiderman  4 , James Crawford  5 , Sara Murphy  1 , Kathryn Marshall  5 , Constanza Pelusso  1   2 , Carey Balaban  6
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Neurosensory Symptom Complexes after Acute Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Michael E Hoffer et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) is a prominent public health issue. To date, subjective symptom complaints primarily dictate diagnostic and treatment approaches. As such, the description and qualification of these symptoms in the mTBI patient population is of great value. This manuscript describes the symptoms of mTBI patients as compared to controls in a larger study designed to examine the use of vestibular testing to diagnose mTBI. Five symptom clusters were identified: Post-Traumatic Headache/Migraine, Nausea, Emotional/Affective, Fatigue/Malaise, and Dizziness/Mild Cognitive Impairment. Our analysis indicates that individuals with mTBI have headache, dizziness, and cognitive dysfunction far out of proportion to those without mTBI. In addition, sleep disorders and emotional issues were significantly more common amongst mTBI patients than non-injured individuals. A simple set of questions inquiring about dizziness, headache, and cognitive issues may provide diagnostic accuracy. The consideration of other symptoms may be critical for providing prognostic value and treatment for best short-term outcomes or prevention of long-term complications.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Symptom Questionnaire.
Administered by an investigator in which subjects rank the symptoms on a 0–6 scale with 0 meaning “none” and 6 meaning “severe.”
Fig 2
Fig 2. Dizziness Handicap Index (DHI).
Self-administered and well normed device in which subjects ranked dizziness symptoms as always, sometimes, or never. By assigned 4 for each always, 2 for each sometimes, and 0 for each never a final ordinal score is obtained.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Trail Making Test B (TMTB).
Self-administered pattern test going from numbers to corresponding letters in the alphabet as follows: 1→A→2→B→…→12→L→13. The pencil may not leave the paper during the test. Time to complete the tracing is recorded.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Distribution scores.
Cumulative distribution scores for controls (gray) and mTBI subjects (black).
Fig 5
Fig 5. Distribution Scores.
Cumulative distribution scores analyzed by sex of subject. Gray squares (female controls) and gray diamond (male controls) show on difference across symptoms clusters whereas the black squares (female mTBI) and black diamonds (male mTBI) vary across the dizziness/cognitive and headache/migraine clusters.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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