Rehabilitation and school services following traumatic brain injury in young children.

BACKGROUND

Preschool children have the highest incidence of emergency department visits for traumatic brain injury (TBI) with the majority discharged home without a single point of entry into follow-up services. This paper describes families' experience with service access following TBI.

OBJECTIVES

To describe parent reported service utilization following preschool TBI and examine predictors of service access.

METHODS

Participants (N = 80) were drawn from the first visit of a longitudinal study examining elementary school outcomes following TBI. Parents were interviewed about their service history. Descriptive statistics analyzed sample demographics. Logistic regression examined associations between injury related factors and service utilization.

RESULTS

TBI participants had mild injuries (83%) and were either discharged to home or spent less than a week in the hospital. No TBI participants received inpatient rehabilitation and only a portion of the sample (26%) received outpatient treatment. Length of hospital stay was a significant predictor of service access (Wald = 4.33, df = 1, p = 0.040). All children were enrolled in preschool without accommodations.

CONCLUSION

Currently no systematic continuum of care exists for children with TBI injured prior to elementary school, despite availability of healthcare, education and state based resources. Healthcare professionals in contact with young children can help with follow-up by educating parents about TBI effects on learning.