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Nonstandardized Assessment of Cognitive-Communication Abilities Following Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Scoping
Audrey Hall1, Jennifer P Lundine1,2, Rebecca J McCauley1
1Department of Speech and Hearing Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus.
Insights
Nonstandardized assessments can effectively evaluate cognitive-communication skills in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Further research is needed to validate these methods for optimal service provision.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurorehabilitation
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children can lead to significant cognitive-communication deficits.
- Accurate assessment is crucial for diagnosis, intervention, and tracking recovery.
- Existing standardized assessments may not fully capture real-world functional abilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and synthesize research on nonstandardized assessment of cognitive-communication in pediatric TBI.
- To identify effective nonstandardized methods for evaluating TBI-related sequelae.
- To inform service provision and guide future research.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of peer-reviewed articles (2000-2019).
- Inclusion criteria focused on empirical studies of nonstandardized cognitive-communication assessment post-pediatric TBI.
- Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines were followed.
Main Results:
- Fourteen articles met inclusion criteria, reporting on five nonstandardized assessment types: discourse analysis, observational tasks, virtual reality, structured cognitive tasks, and rating scales.
- Assessments targeted skills like attention, memory, self-regulation, planning, and social problem-solving.
- Most studies compared nonstandardized results with standardized assessment data.
Conclusions:
- Nonstandardized assessments, when well-designed, provide valuable insights into children's cognitive-communication in functional contexts.
- Further research is necessary to validate these methods and establish their optimal application.
- Improved assessment can enhance detection, diagnosis, and management of TBI sequelae.
Abstract:
Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe and synthesize existing research on nonstandardized assessment of cognitive-communication abilities in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to improve the detection, diagnosis, and tracking of injury sequelae and guide appropriate service provision. Materials and Method A search of peer-reviewed journal databases revealed 504 unique articles published between January 2000 and August 2019. For full inclusion, articles had to report on empirical studies examining variables related to the nonstandardized assessment of cognitive-communication skills following TBI in children. Review articles, expert opinion pieces, and non-English language articles were excluded. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews guided this process. Results Results were tabulated for each of the 14 articles that met full inclusion criteria. Included studies presented five different types of nonstandardized assessment: discourse analysis (n = 3), systematic observation of child's performance during an instrumental activity of daily living (n = 4), virtual reality tasks (n = 3), structured cognitive tasks (n = 2), and functional rating scales (n = 2). The majority of included studies compared the outcomes of nonstandardized assessment against subtest scores and checklists drawn from a variety of existing standardized and criterion-referenced assessments. Targeted cognitive-communication skills included attention, working memory, self-regulation, planning, multitasking, social problem-solving, inferencing, and macrolevel discourse. Conclusions Preliminary research suggests that a well-designed and systematically implemented nonstandardized assessment can yield essential information about children's cognitive-communication abilities in real-world contexts. Further research is needed to validate these assessments and to determine in which settings and situations they may prove most effective. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.15079026.
