Poster Presentation

Sunday, November 4, 2007
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Sunday, November 4, 2007
1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
This presentation is part of : Clinical Posters
Effects of the Sensory Stimulation Program on Recovery in Unconscious Patients with Brain Injury
Pornnipa Urbenjaphol, MNS, APN, Neurosurgery intensive care unit, Chulalongkorn university, Bangkok, Thailand
Learning Objective #1: The learner will be able to examine recovery in unconscious patients after brain injury during using the sensory stimulation program.
Learning Objective #2: The learner will be able to compare effects of sensory stimulation program and conventional nursing care on recovery in unconscious patients after brain injury.

Abstract
                   Background: Coma after brain injury may last days or months and is associated to decreased quality of life for survivors and families. One intervention postulated to improve coma recovery is sensory stimulation.
                   Objectives: The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine recovery in unconscious patients after brain injury during using the sensory stimulation program.     
                   Method: I studied 40 unconscious patients with brain injury who were hospitalized in the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit and the Intermediate Care Unit at a King Chulalongkorn Memorial hospital. A match – pair technique was used to assign patients to experimental and control group of 20 patients each. The patients in the control group were matched on a one-to-one basis with the patients in the experimental group on the basis of age (34.70±12.57, 33.35±12.60 years), location of lesion (bilateral frontotemporo-parietal lobe=30% in both groups, left fronto-temporal=20% of the patients in both groups), GCS score (4.75 ±1.33, 4.05±1.15 scores). The experimental group received routine nursing care include a sensory stimulation program, While the control group received routine nursing care. The stimulation is directed through various sensory modalities including tactile, gustatory, olfactory, auditory, and visual. The instrument used to collect the data from each group was developed from The Sensory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART). 
                   Results: Major finding was as follows the recovery unconscious patients with traumatic brain injury receiving the sensory stimulation program (14.76 ± 2.33) was significantly higher (P£ .05) than those who received nursing care (8.72±1.52).