Content area
Abstract
Electrical injury (EI) occurs when a body completes an electrical circuit and the flow of electricity damages the tissue. Current EI literature emphasizes heterogenous subjective complaints; however, few studies have objectively measured EI patients’ neuropsychological functioning. The aim of the current study was to assess the relationship between objective attention and processing speed and voltage, the no-let-go phenomenon, and posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) while accounting for performance validity and depression. I hypothesized that time since injury would be negatively correlated with attention and processing speed; attention and processing speed would be unrelated to voltage and worse for those who experienced the no-let-go phenomenon or PTA; depression would be negatively correlated with attention and processing speed; two injury parameters (high voltage [≥ 1000 V], no-let-go phenomenon, or PTA) would predict worse attention and processing speed than one parameter; and the association between depression and attention or processing speed would not differ based on voltage and it would be stronger in the presence of the no-let-go phenomenon or PTA. Participants were 107 EI patients who received neuropsychological evaluations at two academic medical centers between 2000 and 2021. Results showed that attention was not associated with any of the injury parameters, interactions between parameters, or depression. Processing speed was associated more strongly with depression than the injury parameters, and it was associated with PTA when accounting for depression. The interaction of PTA and the no-let-go phenomenon may predict processing speed in a larger sample. Finally, EI participants with low voltage injuries (< 1000 V) self-reported more depressive symptoms than participants with high voltage injuries (≥ 1000 V). Overall, depression was more important for predicting processing speed than the injury parameters. Implications of this study include that depression assessment should be prioritized in EI rehabilitation.
