D K Dirette1, J Hinojosa, G J Carnevale. 1. Occupational Therapy Department, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008-5051, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of a compensatory intervention versus a remedial intervention for deficits in visual processing of adults with acquired brain injuries (ABI). SETTING: A cognitive rehabilitation program at a large comprehensive rehabilitation hospital in the New York City metropolitan area. PATIENTS: Thirty adults with ABI were matched according to severity of injury, gender, age, and time post-injury, and randomly assigned to the remedial or compensatory group. INTERVENTIONS: The remedial intervention consisted of four 45-minute sessions (once weekly) of participation in computer tasks without instruction in compensatory strategies. The compensatory intervention consisted of four 45-minute sessions of instruction in the use of three internal compensatory strategies, including verbalization, chunking, and pacing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pretest/posttest measures included three functional computer tasks. Weekly measures included a computerized version of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) and two computerized matching tasks. RESULTS: Both groups exhibited statistically significant improvement of comparable degree on posttests and weekly measures. Further analysis revealed that 80% of both groups used compensatory strategies, regardless of intervention method. Those who used strategies demonstrated better performance than those who did not. CONCLUSION: The ability to use internal compensatory strategies may be a significant confound in research examining the effects of the various cognitive rehabilitation intervention methods.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of a compensatory intervention versus a remedial intervention for deficits in visual processing of adults with acquired brain injuries (ABI). SETTING: A cognitive rehabilitation program at a large comprehensive rehabilitation hospital in the New York City metropolitan area. PATIENTS: Thirty adults with ABI were matched according to severity of injury, gender, age, and time post-injury, and randomly assigned to the remedial or compensatory group. INTERVENTIONS: The remedial intervention consisted of four 45-minute sessions (once weekly) of participation in computer tasks without instruction in compensatory strategies. The compensatory intervention consisted of four 45-minute sessions of instruction in the use of three internal compensatory strategies, including verbalization, chunking, and pacing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pretest/posttest measures included three functional computer tasks. Weekly measures included a computerized version of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) and two computerized matching tasks. RESULTS: Both groups exhibited statistically significant improvement of comparable degree on posttests and weekly measures. Further analysis revealed that 80% of both groups used compensatory strategies, regardless of intervention method. Those who used strategies demonstrated better performance than those who did not. CONCLUSION: The ability to use internal compensatory strategies may be a significant confound in research examining the effects of the various cognitive rehabilitation intervention methods.
Authors: Jennifer K Matsui; Haley K Perlow; Cyril Baiyee; Alex R Ritter; Mark V Mishra; Joseph A Bovi; Vinai Gondi; Paul D Brown; Ashlee R Loughan; Heather E Leeper; Erica Dawson; Joshua D Palmer Journal: Cancers (Basel) Date: 2022-09-01 Impact factor: 6.575