K.C. Apolinario1, A. Al Tannir2, M. De Moya2, A. Farah2, S. Young4, S.D. Timmons3, R.S. Morris2 1Medical College Of Wisconsin, Medical School, Milwaukee, WI, USA 2Medical College Of Wisconsin, Surgery, Milwaukee, WI, USA 3Medical College Of Wisconsin, Neurosurgery, Milwaukee, WI, USA 4Medical College Of Wisconsin, Family Medicine, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Introduction: Every year in the US, over 400,000 adults aged 65 and over sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI). These injuries impact the domains of health-related quality of life: physical abilities, cognitive skills, emotion, and behavior. It is important to understand how patients adapt to changes post-TBI so clinicians can effectively guide patients’ expectations for recovery.
Methods: Patients (age ≥ 65) hospitalized for TBI and associated polytrauma participated in semi-structured phone interviews to assess the factors affecting adaptation after injury and what they wished they were told by providers at the time of injury. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded independently by two authors using an inductive-deductive approach using Dedoose to identify themes. Anonymized quotes were compiled to substantiate the identified themes regarding patients’ adaptations guided by health-related quality of life domains after TBI.
Results: Participants (n=14) were equally split by gender. Mean age was 75 years (SD=6.8 years). All participants were white. Participants lived at home (n=11) or in senior living communities (n=3). Patients reported adapting to their altered quality of life following TBI by accepting their new physical and mental limitations and expressing gratitude for their current post-injury capacities. Patients also indicated that adapting to their lives post-TBI is heavily influenced by their support systems, such as family and caregivers. Support systems aid in regaining independence and ensuring safety. Most patients (n=8) expressed a desire for more thorough information about their post-injury pain and physical activities of daily life (ADLs) from hospital care teams to better prepare for changes to their post-TBI life.
Conclusion: One-year post-TBI, patients’ satisfaction with adaptation to TBI is influenced by their external support systems and gratitude for functional recovery. Older adult patients without self–identified strong support systems may struggle more to adapt to these changes, highlighting the importance of family and caregivers’ involvement in the recovery process. Additionally, patients expressed a need for more thorough and proactive communication from their hospital care teams regarding the potential changes in health-related quality of life post-injury. This information can help patients better prepare for challenges in recovery, improving their overall adaptation and quality of life. Further research is needed to improve education and predict recovery in older adult TBI patients to ensure older adults recovering from TBI have the necessary resources to navigate their recovery journey effectively.