Spontaneous complaints of long-term traumatic brain injured subjects and their close relatives

Long-term consequences of head injury for patients and families are not well known, given the complexity of variables that have to be studied. Subject's self-experience is one of these less studied aspects. The purpose of this study is to examine the spontaneous complaints of long-term brain injured adult subjects to be compared to the impression of their relatives. A total of 48 chronic head trauma subjects were studied more than 6 years after injury together with a relative, usually a mother or wife. At the beginning of the interview the participants were asked to freely refer their present complaints. In general, relatives referred more complaints about the injured subjects than the injured subjects referred about themselves. This occurred in several domains: somatic, physical, cognitive, and behavioural. Memory problems were highly reported by both groups. Somatic complaints were more frequently reported by patients and behavioural problems were more often reported by relatives. Mothers and wives had different profiles or responses. Mothers' opinions were identical to those of their TBI sons in all domains. These different results must be taken into consideration so that the real needs of patients and relatives can be addressed.