Faculty / Staff Resources Student Resources
University of Southern California
University of Southern California
USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
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Research
Research

Supporting Improved Clinical Decision Making in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Through Greater Accuracy and Precision of Neurobehavioral Common Data Elements

ReHaB Core ⟩ ReFReSH Lab ⟩

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Weaver (Colorado State University)

Co-Investigator: Alison M. Cogan PhD, OTR/L

Period
Sep 2022 – Mar 2025

Total funding
$299,639

Advances in science have resulted in many survivors of traumatic brain injury living in disordered states of consciousness for up to two decades. However, we have not advanced the state of the science to foster traumatic brain injury survivor’s functional recovery. A critical challenge in identifying treatments that facilitate recovery of consciousness is robust and precise measurement. Currently, there is significant ambiguity surrounding diagnosis and prognosis for people in states of disordered consciousness. Our preliminary studies have shown that the consensus-based Aspen criteria, aligned to the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised, may not suggest all potential criteria for determining the minimally conscious state or emerging from the minimally conscious state. In this study, we will (1) validate our preliminary findings on a large, secondary dataset from the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems database and the Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research Informatics System database, (2) identify patient subgroups that have similar functional recovery trajectories, and (3) develop a clinical research study aimed at improving communication of assessment results in practice.

Funding

Type Source Number Amount Period
Federal Department of Defense; Clinical Research Development Award W81XWH2210925 $299,639 Sep 2022 – Mar 2024