This site uses cookies.

PI Brief Update

Assessment of Cognitive Impairment Following Road Traffic Accidents - Dr Karen Addy, Clinical Psychologist

16/07/12. Road traffic accidents are a major cause of traumatic brain injury with estimates suggesting 25% of all traumatic brain injuries are sustained in this manner (Westerberg, 2002). However not all road traffic accidents lead to traumatic brain injuries and cognitive impairment following a road traffic accident can be associated with psychological factors such as depression, sleep disturbance, chronic pain etc. In order to assess if a traumatic brain injury is likely a number of medical factors are assessed including any initial loss of consciousness and score of the Glasgow Coma Scale (Teesdale & Bennett, 1974).

The Glasgow Coma Scale or GCS is a reliable, objective way of recording the conscious state of a person.  A patient is assessed against the criteria of the scale, and the resulting points give a patient score between 3 (indicating deep unconsciousness) and 15 which is normal.  Using the GCS traumatic brain injury is...

Image ©iStockphoto.com/ericsphotography

Read more (PIBULJ subscribers only)...


Go back to previous page

All information on this site was believed to be correct by the relevant authors at the time of writing. All content is for information purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. No liability is accepted by either the publisher or the author(s) for any errors or omissions (whether negligent or not) that it may contain. 

The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

Professional advice should always be obtained before applying any information to particular circumstances.

Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.

Privacy Policy                 Legal Resources

© Copyright Law Brief Publishing Ltd, all rights reserved.
Published by Law Brief Publishing Ltd, company number 05966609, registered in the UK. Registered office address: 30 The Parks, Minehead, Somerset, TA24 8BT.

All information on this site was believed to be correct by the relevant authors at the time of writing. All content is for information purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. No liability is accepted by either the publisher or the author(s) for any errors or omissions (whether negligent or not) that it may contain. 

The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

Professional advice should always be obtained before applying any information to particular circumstances.

Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.