Misconceptions about traumatic brain injuries among South African university students

Objective. To investigate the incidence and type of misconceptions about traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) harboured by university students. Method. A convenience sample of 705 university students were recruited and data were collected using an electronic survey. The link to the survey was sent via e-mail to all registered students at Stellenbosch University. The participants had to complete the Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury (CM-TBI) questionnaire. Results. The findings of this study suggest that the students subscribe to misconceptions from each of the 7 categories of misconceptions about TBIs. The mean percentages of misconceptions about TBIs were calculated and the amnesia (mean 49.7) and unconsciousness (mean 46.1) categories were identified as the categories about which the respondents had the most misconceptions; while the mean percentages of misconceptions were lower for the categories of recovery (mean 27.6); rehabilitation (mean 26.56); prevention (mean 20.8); brain injury sequelae (mean 18.7) and brain damage (mean 8.4). Conclusion. Generally; these findings appear to be in keeping with previous literature; which suggests that misconceptions about TBIs are common among the general population. This study's identification of these misconceptions could help create awareness; provide a focus for information provision; and contribute to the development of educational intervention programmes tailored for the South African context

Clinical Presentation and Outcome of Neurosurgical Conditions at Butare Teaching Hospital; Rwanda

Background: Neurosurgical services have only been introduced in Rwanda recently. Consequently little information about spectrum of neurosurgical conditions in th country is available. This descriptive prospective study was aimed at determining the pattern; causes and outcome of management of neurosurgical conditions seen in Butare University Teaching Hospital (BUTH) in Rwanda. Methods: The study population consisted of 152 patients admitted at BUTH with neurosurgical conditions between October 1 2007 and May 31 2008. Patients were grouped into different neurosurgical conditions according to their clinical presentations. . Information collected included age; gender; cause and severity of injury; the time interval between injury Glasgow Coma Score; GOS scales were used to assess head injured patients. Results: The majority (70.4) of patients came from rural areas. Their ages ranged from 15 days to 78 years with a mean of 31.98+/-18.75 years. The Male to female sex ratio was 2:1. Most (73.0) of the patients suffered from trauma with 67.6of them sustaining head injury and 32.4; spinal trauma. Motor Vehicle crashes were the major cause of traumatic injuries (20in spinal trauma and 70.7of head trauma). Only 23of the patients had CT scan performed. Only 12of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) had CT scan.. A total of 78.7of all head injuries were admitted in the first 24 hours following trauma. A significant number (44.4) of spinal cord injury presented late (up to 7 days before referral to a neurosurgeon) and stayed longer in the hospital (52.7up to 3 months). Laminectomy and fixation was the most common spinal operative procedure (58.7) followed by discectomy (34.8). The commonest cranial operation was for posttraumatic intracranial haemorrhage (41.4) followed by surgery for depressed fracture (37.9). One child had a shunt procedure for hydrocephalus. Good recovery was associated with GCS 13 on admission (P0.001). The overall mortality rate was 13.2. The mortality among patients admitted with GCS 8 was 52.4. Conclusion: Neurological injuries were the most commonly seen conditions mainly in head injuries. This study confirms that neurosurgical procedures can still be done with fair results using very little equipment. Providing basic equipment to national neurosurgeons; however; and training them to work in an adverse environment remains a big challenge