MISCONCEPTIONS IN ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY

TABERNERO, E; GALLO, F; DESCHLE, F; CORES, E.; PAVON, H; CANCINO, J

Congreso; 2020 Alzheimer's Association International Conference; 2020

Background: Several studies have shown misconceptions about Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and it´s sequelae on different populations. Considering the motor, sensory, cognitive or emotional consequences of ABI, and their impact in the patient and its relatives? life, the information offered on ABI is essential to provide adequate care. Objectives: to acknowledge the presence of misconceptions regarding ABI in our population by applying a self-administered questionnaireMethod: Three groups were formed. One for general population (GP), one for patients? relatives with ABI (RP), and one for health workers (HW). Instrument: five questions were added to the spanish survey about misconceptions in ABI published by Navarro Main et al. (2017). The survey includes twenty-four mandatory true or false questions. Furthermore, demographical data was required (for e.g. age, years of education and place of residence), along with information regarding having a relative who has suffered from traumatic brain injury or a stroke. The survey was distributed virtually.Result: 648 surveys were obtained; 305 belonged to GP, 143 to RP, and 200 to HW. The median age of the respondents was 37, 42 and 36 years-old respectively. Tertiary and college education have been referred by the 77,5%, 71,5% and 96,5% respectively. The highest number of errors was similar for the three populations for the questions that assessed misconceptions about the influence of cognitive symptomatology, giving the idea that only the behavior observation and physical state of a patient allows us to infer ABI, and that cognitive status is not related to functional independence. ?The greater the effort, the faster the recovery? misconception was more prevalent in the RP group.Conclusion: The results showed that having a direct relative does not improve the knowledge on ABI and it´s possible sequelae, and this fact stands for the need of a better communication from the rehabilitation group to the relatives in order to adequate achievement expectations and to accomplish a better symptoms management. Moreover, although HW obtained the lowest rate of misconception, the lack of knowledge on ABI?s cognitive component was solid evidence.