Article

The frequencies of hearing impairment (HI), vision impairment (VI), or dual
(hearing and vision) sensory impairment (DSI) in patients with blast-related
traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their effects on functional recovery are not
well documented. In this preliminary study of 175 patients admitted to a
Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center, we completed hearing and vision examinations
and obtained Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores at admission and
discharge for 62 patients with blast-related TBI. We diagnosed HI only, VI only,
and DSI in 19%, 34%, and 32% of patients, respectively. Only 15% of the patients
had no sensory impairment in either auditory or visual modality. An analysis of
variance showed a group difference for the total and motor FIM scores at
discharge (p < 0.04). Regression model analyses demonstrated that DSI
significantly contributed to reduced gain in total ( t = -2.25) and motor ( t =
-2.50) FIM scores ( p < 0.05). Understanding the long-term consequences of
sensory impairments in the functional recovery of patients with blast-related TBI
requires further research.

Langue : ANGLAIS