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ABI and Cognition: An important link

Acquired brain injury includes all situations in which brain injury has occurred since birth [Headway] and includes injury such as tumour, stroke, meningitis as well as traumatic brain injury (TBI) which are injuries caused by an impact to the head; for example after a fall or a blow. In rarer cases, a traumatic brain injury can also occur after a very strong head movement. A concussion is a mild type of traumatic brain injury.

The injury or injuries lead to bleeding in or around the brain and can, depending on the degree of severity and which parts of the brain are affected, lead to permanent impairments within several cognitive domains.

Areas of cognition that can be affected by ABI

There are a number of areas which can be affected by ABI - these can also differ depending on age - children with ABI may experience different styles as their brain is still developing.

Some complex cognitive skills which are often affected include: Judgement, reasoning, problem-solving and self-monitoring. In addition, a traumatic brain injury can, among other things, give rise to long-term emotional problems, depression, balance problems and hypersensitivity to strong sounds and light.

An upward trend

Concerningly, UK data from 2019-20 highlights an upward trend in ABI and hospital admissions. Headway highlights that there is:

one admission to hospital for brain injury every 90 seconds
one head injury every three minutes
one stroke every four minutes in the UK.

All ABIs have increased by 12% since 2005-06, with there being 356,699 admissions to hospital in 2019-20. There is also an increase in incidents of ABI among women and a 14% increase in total strokes since 2005-06.

Rehabilitation pathways

Assessment and perspectives of rehabilitation pathways are essential to individuals with ABI to ensure they have the support they need. This could be from support with daily life, mental health, access to education, benefits and workplace adjustments to name a few.

Mindmore provides a range of tests digitally packaged that can assist with cognitive testing investigation, enabling healthcare professionals to provide patient-centred pathways and support.