Poster 9: Does Depression Influence Persons' Perception of the Quality of Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Services?

Objective: To explore the relation between the level of depression and the perception of the quality of rehabilitation services for persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Rehabilitation facilities in Quebec, Canada. Participants: 30 adults (21 men; mean age, 41.8y) with TBI (all severities) receiving rehabilitation. Interventions: Subjects responded to questionnaires during a 40-minute interview at rehabilitation discharge: 61-item Perception of Quality of Rehabilitation Services−Montreal Questionnaire (PQRS-Montreal) and the Beck Depressive Inventory−II (BDI-II). Main Outcome Measures: Individual item scores (1−5) and mean total scores for the PQRS-Montreal and BDI-II (scores of 0–13 indicate minimal depression; those between 29 and 63 indicate severe depression). Results: 26.7% of subjects had either moderate (n=4) or severe (n=4) depression. A significantly negative moderate correlation (r=−.51) was observed between mean total scores for the PQRS and the mean total scores for the BDI-II. This tendency was higher for women (r=−.83) than for men (r=−.43). Conclusions: Depression among persons with TBI negatively influences their perception of the quality of rehabilitation services received. Depressive symptoms should be considered when interpreting patients' perception of the quality of TBI rehabilitation.