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[Lack of uniformity and low compliance concerning wake-up advice following head trauma]
A de Louw1, A Twijnstra, P Leffers
1Rijksuniversiteit Limburg, faculteit der Geneeskunde, Maastricht.
Objective:
To asses the use, content and patient compliance concerning the waking advice (WA) given to non-professional care-givers of mild head injury patients (MHI).
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
University Hospital Maastricht.
Method:
Data were collected from 26 First Aid departments (FAD) of 8 university and 18 other hospitals to asses the use and content of WA. Indications for WA were investigated in 326 trauma capitis patients (TC). The compliance of non-professional care-givers of MHI were investigated by an inquiry among 61 TCs.
Results:
All 26 FADs responded. The waking interval was 1-4 hours. Of 326 TCs, 180 had commotio cerebri. Seventy-four per cent of those patients were given a WA. Total compliance was 7% and partial compliance 55%. In patients who were instructed both orally and in writing compliance was best.
Conclusion:
There was no consensus on use and content of WA. Double instruction (oral and written) gives the best compliance.