What Researchers Did
Researchers looked back at medical records to see how hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) affected thinking and memory problems in adults who had a brain injury as children.
What They Found
This retrospective cohort study of 26 adults (mean age 31.7 years) who had a traumatic brain injury in childhood found significant improvements after HBOT in most cognitive areas, with effect sizes ranging from 0.62 to 0.78. After at least 40 HBOT sessions (90 minutes of 100% oxygen at 2 ATA with air breaks), participants showed improvement in global cognition, memory, executive function, attention, and information processing speed (all adjusted p less than 0.05), though not in motor skills. These improvements did not depend on how much time had passed since the injury (average 23.6 years) or how severe the original injury was. People with a history of mild traumatic brain injury showed similar impairments and similar treatment response compared to those with more severe injuries.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This was a retrospective study without a control group, so it cannot rule out other factors contributing to the observed improvements, and the findings need confirmation in controlled trials.