Psychiatric sequelae of traumatic brain injury: Retrospective analysis of 75 subjects from Kaduna, Nigeria

Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a public health problem and is associated with many complications. However little is known about the psychiatric sequelae of TBI in Nigeria. This study described the pattern and determinants of psychiatric sequelae among subjects with TBI. Materials and Methods: The study is a retrospective review of cases of subjects referred to Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kaduna on account of TBI or its complications from 2001 to 2008. Information obtained included the sociodemographic characteristics, type of injury, durations of unconsciousness (LOC) and posttraumatic amnesia (PTA), psychiatric and psychoactive substance use history. Psychiatric diagnosis was based on the criteria of the 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) Results: Mean age of the subjects was 32.2 ± 35.8 years, mean duration of unconsciousness was 6.88 ± 9.40 days, mean duration of PTA was 5.45 ± 8.78 days, 90.7% were males, 69.3% had road traffic accident (RTA), 28.0% had psychosis, 25.3% had cognitive impairment while 17.3%, 8.0%, and 6.7% had epilepsy, personality change and depression respectively. About 15% had no complications yet. Only 30.7% did cranial CT scan. Long duration of LOC and PTA were significantly associated with psychiatric complications (P value <0.05). Conclusions: Psychiatric sequelae are common after TBI. Long periods of LOC and PTA are predictive of such sequelae. Efforts should be made to prevent RTA, communal clashes and other activities that can lead to TBI.