RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To compare patterns of cognitive functioning in older adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and no neurological disorder (ND). DESIGN: Group comparison. SETTING: Outpatient setting of a large urban tertiary care medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Older adults: 56 with TBI, 64 with AD, and 50 with neurological disorder. INTERVENTION(S): None. RESULTS: Older adults with AD and TBI had lower scores in most areas of cognitive functioning examined than the individuals with neurological disorder. Individuals with AD had lower scores in memory, processing speed, and verbal fluency than did individuals with TBI. Specifically, individuals with AD did not retain learned information over time. CONCLUSION(S): Cognitive impairments were present in older adults with AD and TBI. However, individuals with TBI were better able to learn and retain new information than were individuals with AD.
Assuntos
Doença de Alzheimer/complicações , Lesões Encefálicas/complicações , Transtornos Cognitivos/etiologia , Idoso , Análise de Variância , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Transtornos da Memória/etiologia , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Índices de Gravidade do Trauma , Aprendizagem VerbalRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of age on health problems related to traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Case-control study using a survey instrument. SETTING: Outpatient setting of a large urban tertiary care hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Young and old community dwellers with histories of TBI and control subjects matched for age. INTERVENTION: Structured interview using the Living Life After TBI assessment tool. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Symptom reporting on 52 potential health problems. RESULTS: Individuals with TBI reported significantly more overall health problems than those without TBI. Younger subjects with TBI reported more problems than their nondisabled, age-matched peers with their patterns of sleep as well as with their metabolic/endocrine, neurologic, and musculoskeletal systems. CONCLUSIONS: Older people with TBI were more likely than nondisabled, age-matched peers to report problems with their metabolic/endocrine and neurologic systems. Younger people with TBI were more likely than older people with TBI to report difficulty falling asleep.
