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Caregivers' Concerns about Judgment and Safety of Patients with Brain Injury: A Preliminary Investigation
Author(s) -
Kreutzer Jeffrey S.,
Livingston Lee A.,
Everley Rachel S.,
Gary Kelli W.,
ArangoLasprilla Juan Carlos,
Powell Victoria D.,
Marwitz Jennifer H.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
pmandr
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.617
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1934-1563
pISSN - 1934-1482
DOI - 10.1016/j.pmrj.2009.07.005
Subject(s) - medicine , traumatic brain injury , occupational safety and health , neuropsychology , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medical emergency , cognition , pathology
Objective To identify caregivers' most common concerns about the judgment and safety of patients with brain injury in home and community environments. To quantify caregivers' stress levels and their level of comfort leaving patients at home unsupervised and examine the interrelationships between caregivers' safety and judgment ratings, stress levels, and levels of comfort leaving patients unattended. Design Retrospective, cross‐sectional design. Setting Outpatient brain injury neuropsychology clinic at a university medical center. Participants A convenience sample of 121 caregivers of traumatic brain injury survivors at least 1 month postinjury and 18 years of age or older. Main Outcome Measurements Scores in 9 domains from the Judgment and Safety Screening Inventory; ratings of stress levels and levels of comfort leaving patients at home unattended derived from the General Health and History Questionnaire. Results Caregivers' most common judgment and safety‐related concerns were in the Travel and Financial domains, with many reflecting patients' memory deficits. Heightened caregiver stress levels were prevalent. Higher levels of concern about judgment and safety were associated with higher stress levels and concerns about leaving patients unattended. Conclusions Consistent with research on patients with other types of neurological disorders, concerns about driving and financial management among caregivers are prevalent. Additional research is needed to identify the most cost‐effective methods of evaluating patients and enabling them to function at their highest level in the community.