Discussion Board Post: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)

(Discussion Board Post: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI))

Discussion Board Post: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)

Introduction

The article aims to explore the identification of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) after a concussive event. mTBIs present considerable physical, psychological, and financial effects on patients, families, and healthcare systems.³ Most patients can recover from mTBIs, but others continue to experience continual somatic, cognitive, emotional, psychological, and behavioral difficulties or post-concussion syndrome (PCS). In the past few years, awareness of mTBI and PCS has significantly heightened due to increased research on mTBI diagnosis, treatment, and management. Most patients do not always present in the emergency department after a concussive event, and many mTBIs go undiagnosed and untreated, increasing the risk of the condition worsening and having long-term impacts on the individual.³ It is vital to develop and promote strategies to increase mTBI identification after a concussive event because, currently, most mTBIs in the US go underdiagnosed or unidentified. (Discussion Board Post: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI))

Topic and Significance

mTBIs should be identified after a concussive event because late identification or diagnosis is associated with symptoms that continue for an extended period of time. Patients also find themselves at an increased risk of repeated concussions, which can considerably increase symptom intensity and duration.² Many people might have concussions and not realize it because not all cases involve the loss of consciousness. Learning more about mTBI and procedures and guidelines for mTBI identification after a concussive event would help practitioners, and other involved professionals identify mTBIs early and offer early intervention and treatment to prevent symptoms from exacerbating. CDC’s age-appropriate symptom scale and WHO criteria for mild mTBI are effective guidelines and approaches to early identification of mTBIs. (Discussion Board Post: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI))

Target audience

This proposal targets physicians, neurologists, nurses, school nurses, rehabilitation-trained nurses, patients, and psychotherapists.

Target Journal for Submission

This author plans to submit the scholarly topic article to the Journal of the Academy of PAs (JAAPA). JAAPA is peer-reviewed and belongs to the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA). It has existed for over 25 years, guided by the primary mission of supporting physician associates/physician assistants’ ongoing learning and advancement by offering current information and evidence-based research on clinical, health policy, and professional problems.¹ The journal is well-known, widely used, and available to over 131,000 certified PAs in the US, making it suitable for this article. One of my writing goals is to publish in JAAPA to address the wider PA audience.¹ It also has a high relative impact factor, which would help raise the article’s profile if published. The journal is known for its social capital and acknowledged and respected for high quality and authority, with the ability to impact a wider audience and a wide range of articles that extend beyond clinical research topics (JAAPA, n.d.).

To publish an article, an individual needs to be an AAPA member or a registered user and write an article that fits the journal, including the scope and audience. Recommendations on strategies and procedures for identifying mTBI after a concussive event fall within the journal’s scope and is of interest to PAs, making the journal suitable for the topic. The article is submitted using the Editorial Manager, a portal that handles submission that requires creating an account if not a member or registered before. The journal is published monthly at www.jaapa.com.

The author has researched JAAPA submission requirements and the presentation topic. The article is a review, requiring 2,000 to 3,500 words. The article should include an abstract limited to 150 words, an introduction limited to 500 words, a methods section, results, discussion, limitations, conclusions, and acknowledgement. The abstract should be structured according to these subheadings: objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. On citing references, the reference list should be short, sources recent, epidemiological data current sources primary whenever possible, and sources peer-reviewed. The author should complete and sign the JAAPA’s copyright transfer form and specify conflicts of interest. Additionally, the author should identify funding sources. These guidelines are available at: https://journals.lww.com/jaapa/pages/instructionsforauthors.aspx/

Article type

The author intends to submit a feature article on mTBI identification after a concussive event. The word requirement for review articles is 2000-3500, with the abstract taking 150 words and the introduction 500 words or less. (Discussion Board Post: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI))

The journal’s proposed structure is as follows:

Introduction

mTBI: Diagnosis, treatment, management, impact on patient, family, and healthcare system

Discussion

CDC’s age-appropriate symptom scale and WHO criteria for mild mTBI: benefits, applicability, and effectiveness
Post-concussion symptoms/syndrome: somatic symptoms, cognitive complaints, behavioral issues.

Key points

The key points for the project proposal include:

To educate the audience regarding the impact of late mTBI identification after a concussive event.
To educate the target audience on guidelines and procedures of identifying mTBIs after a concussive event
To educate the target audience on mTBI diagnosis, treatment, and management.
To provide the audience with insights into the risk of many cases of underdiagnosed and unidentified mTBIs.
To enhance mTBI patients’ outcome, reduce PCS, and extended impacts of MTBIs.

Conclusion

Late mTBI identification is associated with symptoms extending over a long period, symptoms exacerbation, and increased severity of the brain injury, making treatment complicated. mTBI symptoms improve over a short period, and many people heal after a few weeks if the concussion is identified and diagnosed early. Others experience post-traumatic symptoms that increase the disease burden on the patient, family, and healthcare systems. Identifying mTBIs early allows early intervention and treatment, increasing chances of recovery. CDC’s age-appropriate symptom scale and WHO criteria for mild mTBI can be taught to the target audience to promote and increase early mTBI identification after a concussive event. (Discussion Board Post: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI))

References

About the Journal. https://journals.lww.com/jaapa/pages/aboutthejournal.aspx
Polinder S, Cnossen MC, Real RGL, et al. A Multidimensional Approach to Post-concussion Symptoms in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Front Neurol. 2018; 9:1113. Published 2018 Dec 19. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.01113
Prince C, Bruhns ME. Evaluation and Treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: The Role of Neuropsychology. Brain Sci. 2017;7(8):105. Published 2017 Aug 17. doi:10.3390/brainsci7080105

Discussion Board Post: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)