[Brain injury knowledge in family members of neurosurgical patients].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Several studies have shown misconceptions about brain injury in different populations. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and perceptions about brain injury of family members of neurosurgical patients in our hospital.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The participants (n=81) were relatives of patients admitted to the neurosurgery department between February and August 2016. They voluntarily completed a 19-item true-false format survey about brain injury based on a translation of other questionnaires used in previous studies from other countries (USA, Canada, UK, Ireland and New Zealand). Also, some sociodemographic data were collected (age, sex, education level and the patient's pathology). Data analysis was developed through graphical modelling with a regularisation parameter plotted on a network representing the association of the items of the questionnaire from the response pattern of participants.

RESULTS: Data analysis showed two conceptual areas with a high rate of wrong answers: behaviour and management of patients, and expectations about acquired brain injury recovery.

CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study would enable us to objectify misconceptions about acquired brain injury in patients' relatives attended in the neurosurgery department. This lack of knowledge could be a great obstacle in patients' recovery process. Therefore, we suggest placing the emphasis on the provision of information on brain injury to patients' families, especially with regard to its symptoms and course of development.