Interactions beneath the surface
Interactions beneath the surface
Acquired brain injury (ABI), including traumatic brain injury and stroke, is increasingly common due to aging populations and improved survival rates. As a result, more people experience ABI later in life, and more individuals are living into older age with its long-term consequences.
This dissertation of Nikki Thüss provides new insights into the long-term consequences of “ABI in the aged” and individuals “aging with ABI,” highlighting the complex interaction between cognitive impairments, psychological factors, and participation outcomes.
The findings show that recovery after mild traumatic brain injury in older adults may be slower and less complete than commonly assumed, indicating a particular vulnerability in this group, in which physical frailty and early post-traumatic symptoms play a role and should be recognized early in clinical practice. At the same time, the results challenge the assumption that aging with an acute ABI leads to accelerated cognitive decline. Instead, they suggest that the experienced secondary decline in participation years after injury is more strongly associated with psychological factors, such as emotional wellbeing and resilience, than with demographic or injury-related characteristics. The identification of this post-ABI effect underscores the importance of long-term follow-up and clinical awareness to ensure that ongoing difficulties are recognized and addressed. A life-course perspective is needed, in which care is adapted to both time since injury and stage of aging.
In conclusion, outcomes after acute ABI reflect a complex interplay between cognitive, physical, and psychological domains, highlighting that recovery is not determined by any single factor but emerges from their interaction.