Abstract:
Many studies of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) lack generalizability to minorities. Research review reveals a dearth of studies exploring how different racial or ethnic groups respond to TBI. A number of studies have recently been published on spinal cord injury patients and have shown mixed results with regard race influence on psychological outcomes (Kemp, Krause, Adkins, 1999; Krause, 1998; Fuhrer et al., 1993). That is, some studies report significant differences between races on reports of depression and other emotional difficulties, and other reports find no differences. Unfortunately, many epidemiological studies have been flawed due to measure used, power of the study, age of participants and other health problems. Given the large number of subjects available in the TBI Model System database, and the need for more in depth studies of how race/ethnic group interacts with TBI, the time is ripe to explore the differences and similarities among all groups surviving a TBI. This information may also help identify distinct responses to TBI and related needs. This is a descriptive study that will explore racial/ethnic group differences on the NFI. Factors that will need to be either controlled for or included in the interpretation of the analysis include: age group, gender, education, severity of injury, location of injury. Particular interest will be place on how different racial/ethnic groups respond to the depression subscale of the NFI as some studies have shown at least trends in how different racial/ethnic groups report depression. As part of the exploratory analysis, the authors will also analyze whether other variables (age group, gender, education, severity of injury, or location of the injury) better account for differences in NFI responses.