Abstract
Objective
Investigate effectiveness of a 5-session manualized intervention for addressing needs
of caregivers of persons in acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation.
Design
Prospective, pilot randomized controlled trial.
Setting
Inpatient brain injury rehabilitation unit, level 1 trauma center.
Participants
Patients (N=93) with moderate-to-severe TBI and their family members were enrolled
in the study with 42 randomized to the treatment group, 51 to the control group.
Intervention
Five-session manualized caregiver intervention with educational, stress and anxiety
self-management, coping, and emotional support components.
Main Outcome Measures
Family Needs Questionnaire-Revised, knowledge assessment, Zarit Family Burden Scale,
and Brief Symptom Inventory-18 were collected at pretreatment, posttreatment, and
3-month follow-up.
Results
Treatment group caregivers showed an increase in met needs for emotional, instrumental,
and professional support, and brain injury knowledge from baseline to posttreatment,
whereas controls did not. Between-group differences were significant for only emotional
support needs. Treatment effects were not sustained at 3-month follow-up.
Conclusions
Caregivers of persons undergoing acute TBI rehabilitation may benefit from interventions
that target their unique needs. Caregivers may require additional and longer-term
supports to sustain treatment benefits.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
FNQ-R (Family Needs Questionnaire-Revised), IQR (interquartile range), TBI (traumatic brain injury)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 01, 2018
Footnotes
Current affiliation for Niemeier, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC.
Supported in part by a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) of the US Department of Education (grant no. H133A070036). The contents of this article do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDRR and the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Clinical Trial Registration No.: NCT01062243.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
