ABSTRACT
Although the Trail Making Test (TMT) Part A, B, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-KFS version (WCST-KFS) and Miyake's Verbal Paired-Associate Learning Test (MVPLT) are simple tools to evaluate cognitive dysfunction in patients with traumatic brain injury, there is very little normative data for young persons available in Japan. Therefore, we evaluated 124 healthy persons who were from 15 to 30 years old with the three assessment tools. Median numbers of TMT Part A and Part B were 23.8 seconds and 49.0 seconds, respectively. Median numbers of achieved categories, perseverative errors of the Nelson type, and difficulties of maintaining set in the WCST-KFS were 5, 2 and 0, respectively. Median numbers of correct answers for related and unrelated pairs of MVPLT were 10 and 9 at the third trial, respectively. TMT Part B and perseverative errors of the Nelson type had a negative and weak correlation with age. And related pairs of MVPLT at the first trial had a positive and weak correlation with age. The normative values obtained in this study would be a useful standard for clinical assessments and acknowledgment of disabilities.
ABSTRACT
Small group training, that is “A rehabilitation class to prepare patients for their return to society,” was created for 5 patients with higher brain dysfunction who had not yet returned to normal daily life after undergoing individual cognitive training, in order to provide them with a better insight into their disease, and to improve their communication abilities and interpersonal skills. The class consisted of 10 sessions (each session lasting 2 hours and 30 minutes) over a 4-month period, which consisted of an opening address, a short lecture, social skills training, tea time, and recreation. Before and after the class, the patients and their families were asked to complete the Dysexecutive Questionnaire, and any decrease in the difference in the scores between the patients and families suggested that the class had enhanced the patients' self awareness. The Baum test showed the patients having an increased interest in the outside world and a tendency to also have more internal energy. The Clinical Global Impression, as evaluated by the patients' families, indicated an improvement in all patients. We therefore consider this rehabilitation class to help prepare patients for their return to society to be useful as one step to encourage an increased social participation in patients suffering from a higher brain dysfunction.