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Interventions for Attention Problems After Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: What Is the Evidence?
Author(s) -
Backeljauw Barynia,
Kurowski Brad G.
Publication year - 2014
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.2014.04.004
Subject(s) - medicine , traumatic brain injury , psychological intervention , medline , cognition , randomized controlled trial , psychiatry , evidence based medicine , population , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , alternative medicine , pathology , political science , law , environmental health
Objective To gain an understanding of the current state of the evidence for management of attention problems after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children, determine gaps in the literature, and make recommendations for future research. Type Focused systematic review. Literature Survey PubMed/Medline and PsychINFO databases were searched for relevant articles published in English during the last 20 years. Keywords included “attention” “attention deficit and disruptive behavior disorders,” and “brain injuries.” Studies were limited to children. Methodology Titles were examined first and eliminated based on lack of relevancy to attention problems after brain injury in children. This was followed by an abstract and full text review. Article quality was determined based on the US Preventative Services Task Force recommendations for evidence grading. Synthesis Four pharmacologic and 10 cognitive therapy intervention studies were identified. These studies varied in level of evidence quality but were primarily nonrandomized or cohort studies. Conclusions There are studies that demonstrate benefits of varying pharmacologic and cognitive therapies for the management of attention problems after TBI. However, there is a paucity of evidence available to definitively guide management of attention problems after pediatric TBI. Larger randomized, controlled trials and multicenter studies are needed to elucidate optimal treatment strategies in this population.