Investigating the effects of paediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury on speed of processing of South African children within a polyglot society, at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital

Abstract

This study explored the cognitive sequelae of Mild Traumatic Brain injuries (Mi-TBI) on the speed of processing (SP) in children living in Soweto township, previously admitted to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital(CHBAH) with a diagnosis of Mi-TBI. The Coding and Symbol Search subtests from the Wechsler Scale of Intelligence for Children Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) were used to assess the participants cognitive SP. This study included a total of 40 participants:20 children who previously experienced Mi-TBI and 20 neurotypical controls. The principal investigator identified the above mentioned research participants according to specific inclusion criteria implemented for the Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI): Neurocognitive and Behavioral Assessment and Management in Kids (THINK) Study. The current study is nested within the THINK study. An independent t-test was used to compare the measured SP for the Mi-TBI and Neurotypical groups. The SP proved to be significantly slower for the test group than for the neurotypical control group. The reduced SP in the Mi-TBI sample was further interrogated in terms of possible predictor variables though a simple regression and correlation analyses. The analysis revealed that gender and age at testing were non-significant, but age at injury and age at testing were significant. Future research is required in this field in order to validate these results and contribute to the existing and growing body of literature on Mi-TBI