Article

Preschool children have the highest incidence of emergency department
visits for traumatic brain injury (TBI) with the majority discharged home without
a single point of entry into follow-up services.
This paper describes families'
experience with service access following TBI. OBJECTIVES:
To describe parent
reported service utilization following preschool TBI and examine predictors of
service access. METHODS: Participants (N = 80) were drawn from the first visit of
a longitudinal study examining elementary school outcomes following TBI. Parents
were interviewed about their service history. Descriptive statistics analyzed
sample demographics. Logistic regression examined associations between injury
related factors and service utilization. RESULTS: TBI participants had mild
injuries (83%) and were either discharged to home or spent less than a week in
the hospital. No TBI participants received inpatient rehabilitation and only a
portion of the sample (26%) received outpatient treatment. Length of hospital
stay was a significant predictor of service access
(Wald = 4.33, df = 1, p =
0.040). All children were enrolled in preschool without accommodations.
CONCLUSION: Currently no systematic continuum of care exists for children with
TBI injured prior to elementary school, despite availability of healthcare,
education and state based resources. Healthcare professionals in contact with
young children can help with follow-up by educating parents about TBI effects on
learning.

Langue : ANGLAIS