Balance disorder and traumatic brain injury: Preliminary findings of a multi-factorial observational study

Abstract

The pathophysiology of TBI suggests that balance disorder in this population may be associated with multi-system dysfunction, but this has not been widely explored in the literature. This study was undertaken to begin to describe the nature of balance disorder across the TBI population. A clinically-based observational design was employed and data gathered by a standardized process of structured observation. Twenty-seven subjects were recruited across a range of injury severities. The sample was skewed towards mild/moderate injury with a mean summated GCS score of 9.6. Deficits were observed across a wide range of domains at both individual and group level and the overall level of balance dysfunction was high. Summary results are reported here and a more detailed analysis of individual cases is underway. Additional cross-disciplinary research is required to further develop understanding of the nature of balance disorder in this population and to develop appropriate methods of clinical assessment.