Article

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common chronically debilitating consequence of
intimate-partner violence (IPV). Diagnosis and effective treatment are precluded
by poor detection and lack of uniform practice guidelines for TBI screening in
IPV. Although there are several TBI-screening tools commonly used in clinical and
research practices, their applicability to this unique and vulnerable population
is unclear. In this review paper, we propose a theoretically based framework for
screening for history of TBI in women exposed to IPV and apply it to investigate
the applicability of TBI-screening instruments. The framework was developed by
examining existing guidelines for working with IPV survivors and applied to
evaluate the content of nine currently available TBI screening instruments to
determine the extent to which each offers (1) events that can lead to TBI in an
IPV situation; (2) safe (without increasing the risk of retaliation) endorsement
of an event; and (3) ease of administration. Our evaluation of the currently
available TBI-screening tools determined that no instrument met the proposed
framework standards and only 2 (Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire and Ohio
State University TBI Identification Method) came close, requiring only minor
adjustments to meet the postulated criteria. We make specific content and
interview-based recommendations for revising TBI screening instruments to
minimize the weaknesses of currently available screening tools among women
exposed to IPV and the knowledge gaps about TBI in this context. The proposed
framework and recommendations are intended to guide future work in this area to
enhance the capacity of TBI screening tools to safely detect TBI in this
population. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V.
CI - Copyright (c) 2016 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS