engleski

Speech and Language Assessment of Patients with Traumatic Brain Injuries

OBJECTIVES: Assessment and observing of patients with traumatic brain injuries with different stage of disturbances of consciousness was the purpose of this research. Patients in the state of persistent vegetative state and with minimal response reactions were our target group because during the speech therapy of these patients it is hard to evaluate a state of hearing, seeing, smelling, touching, breathing, swallowing, chewing and orofacial functions. It was one of the reason why an evaluating scale “Speech and language assessment of persons in persistent vegetative state and with minimal conscious reactions” was created. Components in this scale are accepted from the various worlds' evaluation scales of the above mentioned states. This evaluating scale was used in this research in trying to get data about condition of persons after traumatic brain injuries and data about their improvements in define time period. MATERIAL & METHODS: Seven patients with specific disturbances of consciousness were evaluated with this scale during three examinations in 30 days period between every examination. All examinees were in persistent vegetative state with minimal response reactions due to traumatic brain injury and cerebrovascular insult. They were between ages of 18 to 60. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Differences in examinees’ results between first, second and third examination were expected. Results showed better condition in two patients, two examinees left the hospital before third examination, and condition of all other examinees was the same. Rehabilitation of persons with hard traumatic brain injuries is long process and its outcome depends of lot of different components.

Speech and language assessment; Traumatic brain injury; Persistent vegetative state; Minimal response reactions

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