Interventions to Improve Outcomes in Children and Young People With Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome Following Acquired Brain Injury: A Systematic Review
European Journal of Paediatric Neurology
Houston, A. L., Wilson, N. S., et al. (2020).
European Journal of Paediatric Neurology, 25, 40-51.
This systematic review investigates the effects of interventions on consciousness, functional outcomes, and quality of life in children and young adults, from birth to 25 years old, with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome following acquired brain injury (ABI). This summary highlights conclusions within the scope of speech-language pathology.
No funding received
From database inception to April 2019
English-language studies of any design. Excludes conference abstracts or posters, systematic reviews, and unpublished theses.
8
<div>Multi-component rehabilitation programs with sensory stimulation and oral therapy generally improved level of consciousness in adults and children with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome by hospital discharge. The authors of this review could not isolate the effects of individual treatment components. <br><br>Limitations of this review include poor control of confounding variables, small sample sizes, diagnostic accuracy concerns, and the use of the same data set in 5 of the 8 included studies. Additional research is needed to investigate interventions targeting disorders of consciousness in pediatric and young adult populations.</div>
