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Updated: Feb 6, 2026
Controlled Cortical Impact Model for Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: August 5, 2014
Examining age-related differences in functional domain impairment following traumatic brain injury
Chieh Cheng1,2, Nai-Ching Chi3, Ellita Williams4
1Psychosocial and Community Health Department, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Objective:
To examine differences in the functional recovery trajectories between younger and older adults with mild-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the first year postinjury as well as health-related quality of life.
Design:
Observational cohort.
Setting:
Level one trauma centre in the State of Washington.
Participants:
Adults with mild-moderate TBI (N = 34; younger adults, n = 19, and older adults, n = 15).
Interventions:
None.
Main Outcome Measures:
Functional Status Examination (FSE) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL; SF-12v2).
Results:
Older adults consistently showed significantly worse functional performance than younger adults following TBI in the following FSE domains: mobility, ability to travel, home maintenance and overall functional status. For both groups, preinjury physical health was significantly correlated with ability to travel and social integration at 12-month postinjury. Older participants' preinjury physical and mental health had significant and negative correlation with their functional status.
Conclusions:
Our study provides insights and implications into adults' specific functional impairments following TBI, and which domains have persistent deficits.
Implications For Practice:
Early intervention and rehabilitation should focus on improving older adults' physical functioning and mobility. Our study may also inform future research and design of post-TBI interventions for older adults.
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