Exploring challenges and opportunities related to the identification of mild traumatic brain injury and concussion in rehabilitation trauma inpatients: a qualitative study.

Abstract

To examine the perspectives of healthcare providers regarding missed mild traumatic brain injury and concussion (mTBI/C) diagnosis in trauma populations in rehabilitative and other post-acute settings. An inductive qualitative study design was undertaken to obtain insights from healthcare providers across care settings (e.g. acute care, rehabilitation) about mTBI/C. A total of 20 healthcare providers took part in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using codebook thematic analysis. Four main themes were identified from the data: (1) the prevalence of missed mTBI/C; (2) the challenges of identifying and managing mTBI/C; (3) current approaches to identifying and managing mTBI/C, and; (4) recommendations for improving mTBI/C identification and management. Our qualitative research sheds light on the complexities encountered by healthcare providers with regard to identifying and managing mTBI/C at a patient, practice and system-level. The findings from this work highlighted the variability in diagnostic methods and approaches across care settings and disciplines, emphasizing the need for standardized approaches and enhanced interdisciplinary communication to optimize mTBI/C care.