MILD PEDIATRIC TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY - ADJUSTING SIGNIFICANCE LEVELSFOR MULTIPLE COMPARISONS

The outcome following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) is controversi al. We addressed this topic in a study of neurobehavioural and 'real-w orld' functioning among 53 children with mild TBI and their matched co ntrols, using statistical methods recently developed for multiple comp arisons. Because the study involved calculation of 414 p-values, four methods of adjustment for multiple comparisons, including the Bonferro ni method, were used to avoid 'false-positive' statistical significanc e. The additional three methods allowed greater insight into the data than provided by the standard Bonferroni adjustment. Results showed th at at initial testing, three areas of 'real-world' functioning (eating , domestic and home/community living skills) had weak but statisticall y significant associations with mild injury. No other specific areas o f neurobehavioural or 'real-world' functioning had plausible associati ons with the injury either initially, at 1 year, or when changes over the year were considered. However, the adjustment for multiple compari sons provided additional results. There were statistically significant associations of the injury with the entire domain of neurobehavioural variables both initially and at 1 year. These results suggest that th e injury affects a spectrum of neurobehavioural skills weakly, rather than a single area substantially. The gain froin using multiple compar ison methods is discussed.