Efficacy of Cognitive Intervention Using CogSMART in the Management of Cognitive Problems in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Cognttwe impairment in Mild Traumatic Bram Injury (mTBI), which is usually ignored, may persist into later period of life m some individuals, affecting the functional recovery, like returning back to normal. Neuropsychological assessment plays a pivotal role before and after the management. The aim of the present study IS to measure the memory impairment, following mTBI, and to find out the efficacy of Cognitive Symptom Management and Rehabilitation Therapy (CogSMART) in the management of neuropsychological issues among minor head injured individuals for duration of twelve weeks. PGl Memory Scale, a subtest of PGl battery of Bram Dysfunction has been administered to the subjects, before and after Cognitive Retraining. The objective of the present study is to measure the level of various cognitive skills such as intelligence and memory among head-injured subjects. Once it is measured at an early stage, the subject can be rehabilitated easily through Cognitive Retraining. The sample consisted of ninety subjects with mTBI with in forty-eight hours of admission to the emergency unit of Neurosciences in a Tertiary Care Hospital at Chennai, India. Out of ninety, sixty-six patients, who are having memory impairment, are divided into two homogenous Groups - Control and Experimental Groups: thirty-three subjects each are assigned to Control and Experimental Groups. Experimental Group is exposed to CogSMART for duration of twelve weeks, which includes psychoeducation, regarding TBI: strategies to improve sleep, fatigue, headaches, tension, compensatory cognitive strategies in the domains of prospective memory, attention, learning and memory and executive functioning. On the other hand. Control Group is not exposed to any such intervention. Pretest and Posttest Dysfunction Rating scores of both the Groups are compared. Results clearly indicate that there IS a significant improvement (p <0.0001) on memory of the Experimental Group, compared to the Control Group. Findings of the present study have proved the fact that CogSMART is one of the most effective techniques of improving cognitive dysfunction among individuals with mTBI. Cognitive Rehabihtation helps to increase the efficiency m the workplace and happiness in the family life.