An overview of attention deficits after paediatric traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Purpose: Attention could be categorized into sustained, selective, shifting, divided and attention span. The primary objective was to evaluate the type of attention deficits that occurs after paediatric traumatic brain injury.

Methods: Keywords were used such as ‘attention’, ‘child’, ‘traumatic’, ‘brain’ and ‘injury’ on MEDLINE articles published in 1991–2009. Articles found through MEDLINE were manually cross-referenced.

Main outcomes and results: Out of the examined categorizes, divided and sustained attention seem to be the most vulnerably, frequently displaying deficits in the children with TBI. Attention span seemed to be the most resistant and the shifting and selective categories falling somewhere in between. Most of the recovery is expected within the first year post-injury, even if some individuals continue to improve for years, and deficits often persist into adulthood.

Conclusions: The attention domains are not affected to the same extent by TBI and this should be taken into consideration when evaluating a child. The commonly used tests also seem to differ in how sensitive they are in detecting deficits. The definition of attention domains and TBI would benefit to be stricter and agreed upon, to further facilitate research and rehabilitation programmes.

• Traumatic
• brain
• injury
• attention
• child
• neuropsychological testing