Perspectives of adolescents and their parents regarding service needs following a mild traumatic brain injury.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

Various guidelines have been developed to implement coherent and uniform management of persons with a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), but those have typically been developed for adults or children and may not address or meet the specific needs of adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore the specific service needs of adolescents (12-18 years) after a mTBI.

STUDY DESIGN

Qualitative phenomenological study.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 adolescents and their parents who had received different levels of care from paediatric trauma centres within the previous 12 months.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

All adolescents and parents expressed the need to receive information about the injury, its expected recovery and when to return to activities. Many adolescents reported wanting to be seen rapidly, by professionals who genuinely care about them and who acknowledge that they have specific needs that differ from those of younger children. Parents and, to a lesser degree, adolescents think that enhanced communication between the healthcare and school systems would be beneficial following a mTBI to assist in returning to demanding academic activities.

CONCLUSIONS

Professionals involved in the management of adolescents with mTBI should be aware of their needs in order to provide optimal and developmentally appropriate services.