Interview study of the effects of paediatric traumatic brain injury on memory

Abstract

Primary objective: To investigate the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on children's day-to-day memory functioning. Research design: A qualitative, interview-based procedure. Methods and procedures: Thirteen parents of children and adolescents with TBI were interviewed for 2 hours. Data from 12 of the interviews were analysed using content analysis, which involved transcribing notes, sorting information into categories, identifying similarities or differences among the categories and isolating meaningful trends. Main outcomes and results: Over half of the children experienced explicit (past recall) and prospective memory (future intentions) loss, but few experienced implicit memory (e.g. procedural) loss. Further, parents utilized their own interventions in minimizing their children's memory disabilities. Conclusion: Memory loss is common and can impact on everyday living, but is selective in the types of memory affected. Follow-ups are recommended to assess quantitatively, the so-far, little-known effects of paediatric TBI on prospective memory and to examine more closely parent interventions to assess their wider applicability in TBI rehabilitation.