Rehabilitation Research and Practice (Jan 2012)

The Association between Pain-Related Variables, Emotional Factors, and Attentional Functioning following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

  • Michelle Beaupré,
  • Élaine De Guise,
  • Michelle McKerral

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/924692
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2012

Abstract

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This study examined how MTBI concomitants such as pain variables, depression, and anxiety were related to attentional functioning at different stages of recovery. Participants having sustained a MTBI who were in the earlier phase of recovery showed, compared to controls, slower reaction times and larger intra-individual variability on a Computerized Pictorial Stroop Task (CPST). They also reported more post-concussion symptoms, pain intensity and disability, whereas MTBI participants who were in the later phase of recovery presented a higher rate of post-concussive symptoms and somewhat higher pain intensity/disability. MTBI participants’ scores on the cognitive items of the post-concussion symptoms scale were positively correlated with reaction times on the CPST, while pain intensity/disability levels were negatively correlated with standard attention measures. Results indicate that obtaining response times and intra-individual variability measures using tests such as the CPST represents an effective means for measuring recovery of attentional function, and that pain intensity/disability should be systematically assessed after a MTBI.