Ability to manage everyday technology after acquired brain injury

To investigate and describe how persons with an acquired brain injury (ABI) manage everyday technology (ET) in their daily activities and to explore whether the ability to manage ET was related to the severity of the disability.

Eighty-one persons with ABI were observed while managing ET by using the Management of Everyday Technology Assessment (META). The Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) was used to assess the severity of disability after the ABI. A computer application of a Rasch measurement model was used to generate measures of the participants' ability to manage ET and the measures were compared groupwise with analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).

The degree of severity of disability had a significant main effect on the ability to manage ET. The groups with severe and moderate disability exhibited a significantly lower ability to manage ET compared to the group with good recovery.

The result indicates that the ability to manage ET in daily activities can be related to the global severity of disability after ABI. This demonstrates the importance of considering the ability to manage ET to support the performance of activities at home, at work and in society in persons with ABI.