Analysis of the recovery process of post-traumatic amnesia: A single-center retrospective study

This study aimed to investigate the orientation recovery process in patients with post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) following a traumatic brain injury (TBI). A retrospective observational study was carried out with 55 patients with PTA admitted to the Institut Guttmann Neurorehabilitation Hospital between 2019 and 2023. PTA was assessed using the <i>Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test</i> (GOAT). Changes in the orientation recovery process were evaluated through an ad hoc questionnaire administered at four different time points. Statistically significant differences were found between the different administrations of the PTA questionnaire for the following variables: date of birth (<i>p</i> = 0.014), age (<i>p</i> = 0.014), current location (<i>p</i> < 0.001), hospital name (<i>p</i> < 0.001), year (<i>p</i> < 0.001), month (<i>p</i> < 0.001), and day of the month (<i>p</i> = 0.002). Our results show marked variability in patient responses, making it difficult to establish a single prototypical pattern of orientation recovery in cases of PTA. Beyond the dimensional view of orientation recovery, attention to individual elements is necessary to understand the process of orientation recovery in patients with PTA, as well as to determine the nature of early neurorehabilitation interventions.