Multisite randomized feasibility study of Problem-Solving Training for care partners of adults with traumatic brain injury during inpatient rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND: Problem-Solving Training (PST) during inpatient rehabilitation could provide care partners the skills needed to manage their life roles after discharge. OBJECTIVE: Determine the feasibility of PST+ Education versus Education for care partners of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) during inpatient rehabilitation. METHODS: We conducted a multisite randomized feasibility trial across three sites. We present recruitment rates, reasons for refusal to participate, and reasons for non-completion of interventions. We measured client satisfaction, participant engagement, and fidelity for both interventions. We compared change in depressive symptoms and caregiver burden between PST and Education groups. RESULTS: Though the interventions were generally feasible, recruitment and retention rates were lower than anticipated largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants who completed >3 sessions were less likely to be employed full-time and more often spouses and co-residing. Length of inpatient rehabilitation stay was correlated with number of sessions completed. We observed potential benefits of PST over Education, specifically for reducing depression symptoms and caregiver burden. CONCLUSION: High satisfaction, engagement, and fidelity, overall recruitment and retention, and positive change in outcomes suggest that PST is generally feasible and beneficial for care partners of persons with TBI. Adaptations, such as developing a 3-session version of PST, could improve feasibility.

Societal Participation of People With Traumatic Brain Injury Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A NIDILRR Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on societal participation in people with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Cross-sectional retrospective cohort. SETTING: National TBI Model Systems centers, United States. PARTICIPANTS: TBI Model Systems enrollees (N=7003), ages 16 and older and 1-30 years postinjury, interviewed either prepandemic (PP) or during the pandemic (DP). The sample was primarily male (72.4%) and White (69.5%), with motor vehicle collisions as the most common cause of injury (55.1%). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The 3 subscales of the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective: Out and About (community involvement), Productivity, and Social Relations. RESULTS: Out and About, but not Productivity or Social Relations, scores were appreciably lower among DP participants compared to PP participants (medium effect). Demographic and clinical characteristics showed similar patterns of association with participation domains across PP and DP. When their unique contributions were examined in regression models, age, self-identified race, education level, employment status, marital status, income level, disability severity, and life satisfaction were variably predictive of participation domains, though most effects were small or medium in size. Depression and anxiety symptom severities each showed small zero-order correlations with participation domains across PP and DP but had negligible effects in regression analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the effect of COVID-19 on participation levels in the general population, people with TBI reported less community involvement during the pandemic, potentially compounding existing postinjury challenges to societal integration. The pandemic does not appear to have altered patterns of association between demographic/clinical characteristics and participation. Assessing and addressing barriers to community involvement should be a priority for TBI treatment providers. Longitudinal studies of TBI that consider pandemic-related effects on participation and other societally linked outcomes will help to elucidate the potential longer-term effect the pandemic has on behavioral health in this population.

Changes in alcohol use and mood during the COVID-19 pandemic among individuals with traumatic brain injury: A difference-in-difference study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic exposure on changes in alcohol use and mood from years 1 to 2 after traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: We used a difference-in-difference (DiD) study design to analyze data from 1,059 individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI enrolled in the TBI Model Systems (TBIMS) National Database. We defined COVID-19 pandemic exposure as participants who received their year 1 post-injury interviews prior to January 1, 2020, and their year 2 interview between April 1, 2020 and January 15, 2021. Pandemic-unexposed participants had both year 1 and 2 follow-up interviews before January 1, 2020. We measured current alcohol use as any past month alcohol use, average number of drinks per drinking occasion, and past month binge drinking. We measured depression symptoms using Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and anxiety symptoms using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. RESULTS: We found persons with TBI exposed to the pandemic had greater increases in the average number of drinks per occasion from year 1 to 2 post-injury compared to pandemic-unexposed individuals (ß = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.57, p = 0.001), with males, adults <65 years old, and Black and Hispanic subgroups showing the greatest increases in consumption. Though average consumption was elevated, changes in rates of any alcohol use or binge drinking by pandemic exposure were not observed. Overall, there were no significant changes in depressive and anxiety symptoms over time between pandemic exposed and unexposed groups; however, pandemic-exposed Hispanics with TBI reported significant increases in anxiety symptoms from year-1 to year-2 post-injury compared to pandemic-unexposed Hispanics (ß = 2.35, 95% CI: 0.25, 4.47, p = 0.028). CONCLUSION: Among persons living with TBI, those exposed to the pandemic had significant increases in average alcohol consumption. Pandemic-exposed Hispanics with TBI had large elevations in anxiety symptoms, perhaps reflecting health inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, and suggesting a need for targeted monitoring of psychosocial distress.

Feasibility and Pilot Testing of Mobile Health Apps to Supplement 2 Healthy Lifestyle Interventions in Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility of mobile health (mHealth) apps for enhancing participation of people with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the Group Lifestyle Balance (GLB-TBI) weight loss intervention and Brain Health Group (BHG-TBI) active control intervention. SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: n = 56 overweight/obese adults with moderate-severe TBI. DESIGN: The GLB-TBI is a 12-month group- and community-based program to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The BHG-TBI is a 12-month group- and community-based program to promote general brain health, designed as an active control condition matched on time, structure, and perceived benefit to the GLB-TBI. In a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of the GLB-TBI for weight loss, participants used a group-specific mHealth app providing daily tips customized according to their intervention allocation. MAIN MEASURES: Compliance (percentage of daily prompts read and completed) and participant-reported satisfaction and usability. RESULTS: In conjunction with relevant stakeholders, we developed the content and structure of the GLB-TBI and BHG-TBI apps based on core curriculum components. We incorporated cognitive strategies (app notifications) to address potential cognitive impairment common after TBI. Both apps delivered brief daily educational and motivational "tips" derived directly from their respective curricula. Daily use of the apps varied greatly across participants, with most participants who used the apps completing 10% to 50% of daily content. Participants found the apps to be easy to use, but only some found them helpful. App use was substantially different for those who participated in the intervention during (2020) versus before (2019) the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Although enhancing an intensive lifestyle intervention with mHealth technology may be helpful, further refinement is needed to optimize the frequency and delivery methods of mHealth content. Although one might expect remote app use to have been higher during the pandemic, we observed the opposite, potentially due to less hands-on training and ongoing support to use the app and/or general technology fatigue with social distancing.