Abstract
Objective: This scoping review synthesizes the scholarly literature on cognitive communication impairments in traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained during childhood to identify gaps in research, and make recommendations that will further the field of cognitive communication in pediatric TBI.
Methods: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and EMBASE were searched to identify peer-reviewed studies that examined cognitive communication impairments in children who sustained a TBI between 3 months to 18 years of age.
Results: Twenty-eight studies met inclusion criteria with 3 main categories identified in relation to cognitive communication: (1) impairments according to TBI severity, (2) impairments according to age at injury, and (3) trends in recovery according to TBI severity.
Conclusions: The results of this scoping review suggest that (1) TBI severity is not the sole predictor of performance; other factors contribute to cognitive communication outcome and recovery; (2) developing skills at time of injury are most susceptible to impairment; and (3) standard, norm-referenced language assessments are not sensitive in detecting language impairments that are secondary to cognitive impairments found in TBI. Directions for future research and suggestions for clinical practice are proposed.