Predictive Factors for Community Integration Among Persons After Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

This cross sectional predictive study was conducted to identify the level of community integration and its predicting factors among persons after traumatic brain injury (TBI). A total of 120 TBI survivors living in the community of province number three in Nepal were selected by stratified sampling technique. The demographic and clinical information were obtained from Demographic questionnaire whereas the data related to social support, physical environment, fatigue and community integration were obtained from Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors (CHIEF), Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), and Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) respectively. The content validity of questionnaires were performed by five experts. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for CIQ, MSPSS, CHIEF and MFIS were .75, 92, 90 and 93, respectively. The data analysis were carried out using descriptive statistics, Pearson's Product Momentum Correlation, and linear regression. The findings of the study revealed that the level of community integration among the participants was at moderate level (M = 15.99, SD = 3.32). The study found that fatigue (=-31, p <.00) could statistically predict community integration among persons after TBI which explained 9.6% of the variance (R2 = .096, F (3.116) = 4.11, p <.001). The findings of the study would be helpful for developing and implementing nursing interventions to strengthen community integration among persons after TBI.