TBI in Older Adults
Traumatic Brain Injury in Older Adults: Does Age Matter?
Chief Investigator: Associate Professor Glynda Kinsella
Associate Investigators: Associate Professor John Olver, Dr Ben Ong
Lead Organisation: La Trobe University
VNI Funding: $303,188
Project Start Date: 08-Jan-07
Project Summary:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is most frequently associated with young males. However, older adults (65 years+) form the second most frequently injured demographic. In contrast to the increasingly well-documented outcome literature on younger adults, there are very few studies that have focused on older adults. The purpose of this study is to extend our understanding of the impact of mild-moderate TBI for older adults in terms of cognition, everyday ability and quality of life. The project objectives are: (i) to delineate the effect of severity of TBI by comparing the outcome of a group of older adults with moderate TBI to a group of older adults with mild TBI, (ii) to determine the effects of TBI per se by comparing the outcome of the combined older adults group with both mild and moderate TBI to that of a trauma control group, (iii) to delineate the effects of trauma per se by comparing the outcome of the trauma control group to that of a healthy age-matched community control group. A baseline, three month post-trauma, and follow-up, six months post-trauma, design will be adopted to determine whether older adults with TBI experience a slower, less complete recovery than adults following trauma alone.
