Brooks Teams with the University of Florida for Study of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Executive Summary
- Over two million adults are affected by TBI each year in the United States
- Brooks is a current data collection site for this ongoing study
- The project is currently in its second phase
- Recruitment and data collection will continue through March 2008
- This project will result in a computer adaptive measure of cognition in TBI victims
With more than two million adults in the United States affected each year, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) poses serious problems to a large population. Impairments can be physical, emotional, behavioral, and/or cognitive. The Brooks Center for Rehabilitation Studies has been participating in a study of TBI in conjunction with the University of Florida (UF). Craig Velozo, Ph.D., UF Department of Occupational Therapy, and Shelly Heaton, Ph.D., UF Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, are the primary investigators in this study which is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Eye Institute (NEI).
The purpose of the study is to develop a computer adaptive measure of cognition in individuals who have sustained a TBI. The everyday thinking skills of TBI survivors, including their attention span, memory, and processing speed, will be assessed through a series of surveys and pencil/paper tasks such as coding in symbols and searching for symbols.
This study is currently in its second phase. During Phase One, a bank of items was developed based on literature reviews, feedback from an advisory panel, and focus groups. Phase Two will result in the item development necessary for reliability, validity and sensitivity testing of the TBI cognitive measure in a multi-center trial. The long-term objective is to develop an efficient and precise instrument to evaluate thinking skills in a TBI population.
The recruitment and data collection of this study is expected to continue until March 2008. Both patients and caregivers will be compensated $50 for their participation and health care professionals (if applicable) will be compensated with a $20 gift card. Participation in the study will last approximately two to three hours and can be broken up into two parts if needed. Eligible participants must have sustained a traumatic brain injury within the past year and still be involved in outpatient treatment, or they must be at least one year post-injury. If you would like additional information regarding this project or would be interested in participating, please contact Whitney Jenkins at (904) 306-8984.