Predicting the outcome of mild closed head injury using the Glasgow Coma Scale-Extended

Abstract

Measures routinely used to assess the severity and outcome of closed head injury, that is the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and the duration of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA), are of limited use in the case of mild closed head injury (MCHI). The present study investigated the sensitivity of a proposed alternative measure, the Glasgow Coma Scale-Extended (GCS-E), which is a combination of GCS and PTA measures. Twenty subjects who sustai1ed MCHI were assessed with a brief battery of neuropsychological tesrs, six months after the injury. Correlations between the neuropsych1 logical measures and GCS, duration of PTA and the GCS-E were not significant, possibly because of methodological limitations. Although statistical methods do not support the notion that the GCS-E is mere sensitive than currently used measures in detecting the consequem es of MCHI, some support is obtained from qualitative observations.