Memory Dysfunctions after Mild and Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury : Comparison between Patients with and without Frontal Lobe Injury.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to assess memory dysfunction in patients with mild and moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) with and without frontal lobe injury (FLI).

METHODS

The subjects were 110 TBI patients, who had recovered from the acute clinical phase, and comprised 20 (18.2%) mild TBI (MTBI) patients with FLI, 16 (14.5%) MTBI patients without FLI, 51 (46.4%) moderate TBI (MOTBI) patients with FLI and 23 (20.9%) MTBI patients without FLI. All patients were administrated the Korean version of the Memory Assessment Scale (K-MAS).

RESULTS

Almost all the Summary Scale scores on the K-MAS failed to show any differences between TBI patients with and without FLI, but differences did emerge by types at severities. TBI patients with FLI showed higher Global Memory ability than TBI patients without FLI if their TBI was only mild, but when their TBI was more severe, this finding was reversed, and TBI patients with FLI showed lower Verbal and Global Memory abilities than TBI patients without FLI.

CONCLUSION

Different kinds of assessment tools are needed for the measurement of memory abilities in TBI patients with FLI, and that the selection of the appropriate tool depends on the severity of the TBI.