Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:03:46.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Vigilance and fatigue following traumatic brain injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2006

CARLO ZIINO
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
JENNIE PONSFORD
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre, Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Research findings have suggested that individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) show greater psychophysiological and subjective costs associated with performing vigilance tasks, but have not examined relationships with fatigue. The present study aimed to investigate vigilance and its relationship with subjective and objective fatigue measures. Forty-six TBI participants and 46 controls completed a 45-minute vigilance task. They also completed a subjective fatigue scale (the VAS-F) and a selective attention task before and after the vigilance task, and had their blood pressure (BP) monitored. TBI participants performed at a lower level on the vigilance task, but performed at a similar level across the duration of the task. Higher subjective fatigue ratings on the VAS-F were associated with more misses on the vigilance task for TBI participants. TBI participants showed greater increases in diastolic BP, and these were associated with greater increases in subjective fatigue ratings on the VAS-F. A subgroup of TBI participants showed a decline in performance on the vigilance task and also showed disproportionate increases in subjective fatigue. Findings provide support for the coping hypothesis, suggesting that TBI individuals expend greater psychophysiological costs in order to maintain stable performance over time, and that these costs are also associated with subjective increases in fatigue. (JINS, 2006, 12, 100–110.)

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2006 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aaronson, L.S., Teel, C.S., Cassmeyer, V., Neuberger, G.B., Pallikkathayil, L., Pierce, J., Press, A.N., Williams, P.D., & Wingate, A. (1999). Defining and mea-suring fatigue. Image—The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 31, 4550.Google Scholar
Annet, J. (2002). Subjective rating scales: Science or art? Ergonomics, 45, 966987.Google Scholar
Azouvi, P., Jokic, C., Van der Linden, M., Marlier, N., & Bussel, B. (1996). Working memory and supervisory control after severe closed-head injury. A study of dual task performance and random generation. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 18, 317337.Google Scholar
Bigler, E.D. (2001). The lesion(s) in traumatic brain injury: Implications for clinical neuropsychology. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 16, 95131.Google Scholar
Brouwer, W.H. & van Wolffelaar, P.C. (1985). Sustained attention and sustained effort after closed head injury. Cortex, 21, 111119.Google Scholar
Caci, H., Bayle, F.J., Mattei, V., Dossios, C., Robert, P., & Boyer, P. (2003). How does the hospital anxiety and depression scale measure anxiety and depression in healthy subjects? Psychiatry Research, 118, 8999.Google Scholar
Cohen, R.A. & Fisher, M. (1989). Amantadine treatment of fatigue associated with MS. Archives of Neurology, 46, 676680.Google Scholar
Cohen, R.A. & Sparling-Cohen, Y.A. (1993). Response selection and the executive control of attention. In R.A. Cohen (Ed.), The neuropsychology of attention (pp. 4973). New York: Plenum Press.
Dikmen, S., Machamer, J., & Temkin, N. (1993). Psychological outcome in patients with moderate to severe brain injury. Brain Injury, 7, 113124.Google Scholar
Evans, R.W. (1992). The post-concussion syndrome and sequelae of mild head injury. Neurologica Clinics, 10, 815847.Google Scholar
Farrin, L., Hull, L., Unwin, C., Wykes, T., & David, A. (2003). Effects of depressed mood on objective and subjective measures of attention. Journal of Neuropsychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences, 15, 98104.Google Scholar
Ferrell, B.R., Grant, M., Dean, G.E., Funk, B., & Ly, J. (1996). “Bone tired”: The experience of fatigue and its impact on quality of life. Oncology Nursing Forum, 23, 15391547.Google Scholar
Flashman, L.A. & McAllister, T.W. (2002). Lack of awareness and its impact in traumatic brain injury. NeuroRehabilitation, 17, 285296.Google Scholar
Hart, T., Whyte, J., Polansky, M., Millis, S., Hammond, F.M., Sherer, M., Bushnik, T., Hanks, R., & Kreutzer, J. (2003). Concordance of patient and family report of neurobehavioral symptoms at 1 year after traumatic brain injury. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 84, 204213.Google Scholar
Harter, M., Reuter, K., Gross-Hardt, K., & Bengel, J. (2001). Screening for anxiety, depressive and somatoform disorders in rehabilitation. Validity of HADS and GHQ-12 in patients with musculoskeletal disease. Disability and Rehabilitation, 23, 737744.Google Scholar
Hibbard, M.R., Uysal, S., Kepler, K., Bogdany, J., & Silver, J. (1998). Axis I psychopathology in individuals with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 13, 2439.Google Scholar
Kreutzer, J.S., Seel, R.T., & Gourley, E. (2001). The prevalence and symptom rates of depression after traumatic brain injury: A comprehensive examination. Brain Injury, 15, 563576.Google Scholar
Krupp, L.B., LaRocca, N.G., Muir-Nash, J., & Steinberg, A.D. (1989). The fatigue severity scale: Application to patients with multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Archives of Neurology, 46, 11211123.Google Scholar
LaChapelle, D.L. & Finlayson, M.A.J. (1998). An evaluation of subjective and objective measures of fatigue in patients with brain injury and healthy controls. Brain Injury, 12, 649659.Google Scholar
Leclercq, M. & Azouvi, P. (2002). Attention after traumatic brain injury. In M. Leclercq & P. Zimmermann (Eds.), Applied neuropsychology of attention: Theory, diagnosis and rehabilitation (pp. 257279). London: Taylor and Francis.
Leclercq, M., Couillet, J., Azouvi, P., Marlier, N., Martin, Y., Strypstein, E., & Rousseaux, M. (2000). Dual task performance after severe diffuse traumatic brain injury or vascular prefrontal damage. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 22, 339350.Google Scholar
Lee, K.A., Hicks, G., & Nino-Murcia, G. (1991). Validity and reliability of a scale to assess fatigue. Psychiatry Research, 36, 291298.Google Scholar
Lewis, G. & Wessely, S. (1992). The epidemiology of fatigue: More questions than answers. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 46, 9297.Google Scholar
Masson, F., Maurette, P., Salmi, L.R., Dartigues, J.F., Vecsey, J., Destaillats, J.M., & Erny, P. (1996). Prevalence of impairments 5 years after a head injury, and their relationship with disabilities and outcome. Brain Injury, 10, 487497.Google Scholar
Meek, P.M., Nail, L.M., Barsevick, A., Schwartz, A.L., Stephen, S., Whitmer, K., Beck, S.L., Jones, L.S., & Walker, B.L. (2000). Psychometric testing of fatigue instruments for use with cancer patients. Nursing Research, 49, 181190.Google Scholar
Middleboe, T., Anderson, H.H., Birket-Smith, M., & Friis, M.L. (1992). Minor head injury: Impact on general health after 1 year: A prospective follow-up study. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 85, 59.Google Scholar
Nelson, H.E. & Willison, J. (1991). The national adult reading test (NART): Test manual (2nd ed.). Windsor: NFER–Nelson.
Olver, J.H., Ponsford, J., & Curran, C. (1996). Outcomes following traumatic brain injury: A comparison between 2 and 5 years after injury. Brain Injury, 10, 841848.Google Scholar
Parasuraman, R. (1984). The psychobiology of sustained attention. In J.S. Warm (Ed.), Sustained attention in human performance (pp. 61101). London: Wiley.
Parasuraman, R., Warm, J.S., & See, J.E. (1998). Brain systems of vigilance. In R. Parasuraman (Ed.), The attentive brain (pp. 221256). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Park, N.W., Moscovitch, M., & Robertson, I.H. (1999). Divided attention impairments after traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychologia, 37, 11191133.Google Scholar
Ponsford, J. & Kinsella, G. (1992). Attentional deficits following closed head injury. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 114, 822838.Google Scholar
Posner, M.I. & Peterson, S.E. (1990). The attention system of the human brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 13, 2542.Google Scholar
Prigitano, G.P. & Schacter, D.L. (1975). Awareness of deficits after brain injury: Clinical and theoretical issues. New York: Wiley.
Ream, E.K. & Richardson, A. (1996). Fatigue: A concept analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 33, 519529.Google Scholar
Riccio, C.A., Reynolds, C.R., Lowe, P., & Moore, J.J. (2002). The continuous performance test: A window on the neural substrates for attention? Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 17, 235272.Google Scholar
Riese, H., Hoedemaeker, M., Brouwer, W.H., Mulder, L.J.M., Cremer, R., & Veldman, J.B.P. (1999). Mental fatigue after very severe closed head injury: Sustained performance, mental effort and distress at two levels of workload in a driving simulator. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 9, 189205.Google Scholar
Seel, R.T., Kreutzer, J.S., Rosenthal, M., Hammond, M., Corrigan, J.D., & Black, K. (2003). Depression after traumatic brain injury: A national institute of disability and rehabilitation research model systems multicenter investigation. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 84, 177184.Google Scholar
Segalowitz, S.J., Dywan, J., & Unsal, A. (1997). Attentional factors in response time variability after traumatic brain injury: An ERP study. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 3, 95107.Google Scholar
Shores, E.A., Marosszeky, J.E., Sandanam, J., & Batchelor, J. (1986). Preliminary validation of a scale for measuring the duration of post-traumatic amnesia. Medical Journal of Australia, 144, 569572.Google Scholar
Smets, E.M., Garssen, B., Schuster-Uitterhoeve, A.L.J., & deHaes, J.C.J.M. (1993). Fatigue in cancer patients. British Journal of Cancer, 68, 220224.Google Scholar
Snaith, R.P. & Zigmond, A.S. (1994). The hospital anxiety and depression scale with the irritability depression-anxiety scale and the Leeds situational anxiety scale: Manual. Windsor: NFER–Nelson.
Spikman, J.M., van Zomeren, A.H., & Deelman, B.G. (1996). Deficits of attention after closed-head injury: Slowness only? Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 18, 755767.Google Scholar
Sturm, W. & Willmes, K. (2001). On the functional neuroanatomy of intrinsic and phasic alertness. NeuroImage, 14, S76S84.Google Scholar
Stuss, D.T., Murphy, K.J., Binns, M.A., & Alexander, M.P. (2003). Staying on the job: The frontal lobes control individual performance variability. Brain, 126, 23632380.Google Scholar
Stuss, D.T., Pogue, J., Buckle, L., & Bondar, J. (1994). Characterization of stability of performance in patients with traumatic brain injury: Variability and consistency on reaction time tests. Neuropsychology, 8, 316324.Google Scholar
Stuss, D.T., Stethem, L.L., Hugenholtz, H., Picton, T., Pivik, J., & Richard, M.T. (1989). Reaction time after head injury: Fatigue, divided attention and focused attention, and consistency of performance. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 52, 742748.Google Scholar
van der Naalt, J., van Zomeren, A.H., Sluiter, W.J., & Minderhoud, J.M. (1999). One year outcome in mild to moderate head injury: The predictive value of acute injury characteristics related to work complaints and return to work. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 66, 207213.Google Scholar
van Zomeren, A.H. & Brouwer, W.H. (1994). Clinical Neuropsychology of Attention. New York: Oxford University Press.
van Zomeren, A.H., Brouwer, W.H., & Deelman, B.G. (1984). Attentional deficits: The riddles of selectivity, speed and alertness. In D. Brooks (Ed.), Closed head injury: Psychological, social and family consequences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
van Zomeren, A.H., Brouwer, W.H., Rothengatter, J.A., & Snoek, J.W. (1988). Fitness to drive a car after recovery from severe head injury. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 69, 9096.Google Scholar
van Zomeren, A.H. & van den Burg, W. (1985). Residual complaints of patients two years after severe head injury. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 48, 2128.Google Scholar
Vitaz, T.W., Jenks, J., Raque, G.H., & Shields, C.B. (2003). Outcome following moderate traumatic brain injury. Surgical Neurology, 60, 285291.Google Scholar
Walker, G.C., Cardenas, D.D., Guthrie, M.R., McLean, A., & Brooke, M.M. (1991). Fatigue and depression in brain injured patients correlated with quadriceps strength and endurance. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 72, 469472.Google Scholar
Whyte, J., Polansky, M., Fleming, M., Branch Coslett, H., & Cavallucci, C. (1995). Sustained arousal and attention after traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychologia, 33, 797813.Google Scholar
Winstead-Fry, P. (1998). Psychometric assessment of four fatigue scales with a sample of rural cancer patients. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 6, 111122.Google Scholar
Zoccolotti, P., Matano, A., Deloche, G., Cantagallo, A., Passadori, A., Leclercq, M., Braga, L., Cremel, N., Pittau, P., Renom, M., Rousseaux, M., Truche, A., Fimm, B., & Zimmermann, P. (2000). Patterns of attentional impairment following closed head injury: A collaborative European study. Cortex, 36, 93107.Google Scholar