Disclosures: Jan E. Lexell, MD, PhD, DPhil h.c.: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Background and/or Objectives: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of long-term disability. One factor of importance for a person’s ability to adapt and retain a positive view on life is Sense of Coherence (SOC), consisting of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. Very little is known about SOC many years after a TBI and changes over time. The objective was to describe SOC and changes over a six-year period among adults with long-term TBI, and to investigate how changes in SOC are associated with different socio-demographics and injury characteristics.

Design: Longitudinal descriptive study.

Setting: Home and community setting.

Participants: Forty-five participants (39 men and 6 women, median age 49 years) were included in the study. The participants had sustained a mild TBI (n=20) or a moderate/severe TBI (n=25).

Interventions: not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Data were collected on average 10 years and 16 years after TBI. The SOC-13 scale was used to rate the participants SOC. Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used for statistical analysis.

Results: There was no statistical difference in SOC between the two follow-ups (65 at first follow-up, 64 at second follow-up). Participants below median age (49 years) had a significant reduction in SOC (63 at first follow-up, 59 at second follow-up). There was no significant change in SOC among participants regarding sex, age at injury, time after injury, and injury severity.

Conclusions: Adults aging with long-term TBI have a SOC similar to the non-disabled population, indicating that they generally have a strong ability to handle stressful events in life. SOC was stable over time, regardless of sex, age at injury, time after injury, and injury severity, but younger participants had a decline in SOC over time. More studies are needed to better understand factors that affect the well-being of people living with a remaining disability from TBI, and how follow-up programs can be further optimized.

Level of Evidence: Level III

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/sense-of-coherence-soc-from-10-to-16-years-after-a-traumatic-brain-injury/