Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention on Reducing Misconceptions among Ethnic Minorities with Complicated Mild to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Publication date: Available online 19 December 2016
Source:Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Author(s): Monique R. Pappadis, Angelle M. Sander, Beata Łukaszewska, Margaret A. Struchen, Patrick Leung, Dennis W. Smith
ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention designed to reduce TBI-related misconceptions among Blacks and Latinos with complicated mild to severe TBI.DesignA randomized controlled trial with masked one-month follow-up.SettingCommunity.Participants52 persons with complicated mild to severe TBI (Mean Best day 1 GCS=11.27; SD=3.89) were randomly recruited from 141 eligible participants (Mean age=37.71, SD=13.88, age range, 19-66; Mean months post injury=24.69, SD=11.50). 48.1% of participants were Black and 51.9% were Hispanic/Latino. Of the Hispanic/Latino participants, 66.7% were non-U.S. born and 44.4% spoke Spanish as their primary language. Twenty-seven individuals were randomized to the educational intervention group and 25 were randomized to the wait-list control group.InterventionsA single-session educational intervention with written materials provided in English or Spanish.Main Outcome Measures40-item Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire (CM-TBI) administered at baseline and one-month follow-up.ResultsAfter controlling for ethnic-language group, a significant between-group main effect (p=.010) and a significant time-group interaction for the CM-TBI was noted, Wilks'Λ=0.89, F(1,46)=6.00, p=.02. The intervention group showed a decrease in TBI misconception percentages, while the wait-list control group maintained similar percentages. At one-month follow-up, the wait-list control group reported more misconceptions than the intervention group (p = .019).ConclusionsAn educational intervention developed to address the recovery process, common symptoms, and ways to handle the symptoms provides promise as a tool to decrease TBI misconceptions among persons from ethnically and educationally diverse backgrounds. The influence of therapist characteristics and the client-therapist relationship on outcomes should be further explored.



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