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National Taiwan University Irritability Scale: Evaluating Irritability in Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Chi-Cheng Yang
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Therapy, Master of Behavioral Sciences, Clinical Psychology Program, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Sheng-Jean Huang
Affiliation:
Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Surgical Department, Medical College, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wei-Chi Lin
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Therapy, Master of Behavioral Sciences, Clinical Psychology Program, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Yi-Hsin Tsai
Affiliation:
Department of Traumatology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Mau-Sun Hua*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. [email protected]
*
*Address for correspondence: Professor Mau-Sun Hua, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, No. 1, Sec 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, Taiwan.
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Abstract

Irritability is not uncommon after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Unfortunately, no instruments are available to directly measure this clinical feature. This study thus aimed to develop a specific scale to evaluate the irritability for patients with TBI. A total of 144 participants, which include 80 healthy participants and 64 patients suffering from TBI, were recruited. Irritability was assessed by the National Taiwan University Irritability Scale (NTUIS). Our results showed the NTUIS has good reliability. The factor analysis further revealed 2 different components: annoyance, and verbal aggression. Moreover, both self-reported and family-reported irritability postinjury were significantly higher than the irritability reported by the healthy participants. Indeed patients with TBI have significant problems with irritability after injuries, and thus a more specific assessment tool to carefully evaluate patients' irritability should be used.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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