Social communication following traumatic brain injury part I: State-of-the-art review of assessment tools

AbstractPurpose: The primary aim of this paper was to identify and describe current social communication assessment tools for adults with traumatic brain injury.Method: We conducted a state-of-the-art review to identify and categorise the range of social communication assessment tools found in the assessment and treatment literature that revealed 42 measures that were coded according to characteristics related to assessment types, psychometrics, and implementation.Result: Of the 42 assessments, 64% evaluated social cognition and the remaining 36% evaluated communication. Coding of implementation categories revealed that only 18/42 (43%) measures were ecologically grounded and 23/42 (55%) were available to clinicians by purchase or in the public domain. Only three measures incorporated questions or an assessment of the examinee’s priorities or concerns.Conclusion: A number of factors limit current social communication assessment. The lack of tools that objectively and reliably evaluate communication or soc...