Citation

Paget SP, Beath AW, Barnes EH, Waugh MC. Dev. Neurorehabil. 2012; 15(3): 171-177.

Affiliation

Kids Rehab, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, Sydney , New South Wales , Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.3109/17518423.2012.671381

PMID

22582847

Abstract

Objective: To examine the inter-rater reliability of The King's Outcome Scale for Childhood Head Injury (KOSCHI) with clinicians of varying experience in paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI); and to examine change in outcome during long-term follow-up of children following traumatic brain injury (TBI) using KOSCHI. Method: Retrospective assessment of detailed clinic reports of 97 children followed-up by a tertiary specialist paediatric brain injury service. Investigators were blinded to each other's scores. Results: Inter-rater reliability was substantial (weighted kappa 0.71) and similar for investigators of varying experience. KOSCHI outcome was strongly associated with markers of injury severity (p = 0.028). In longitudinal follow-up, KOSCHI score worsened in 7 (23%) children who were injured under 8 years but in no older children (p = 0.02). Conclusion: KOSCHI has high inter-rater reliability for investigators of different experience. Long-term KOSCHI outcome is associated with injury severity. Some young children may develop worse disability over time.

Language: en