A NOTE CONCERNING MISCONCEPTIONS OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC ABOUT BRAIN INJURY

A survey performed in South Louisiana disclosed that the general popul ation held a number of misconceptions about the sequelae of brain inju ry. The authors cautioned that the respondents represented a convenien t sample and were representative of only a small geographic region, an d challenged others to conduct similar surveys in other regions of the country. The present study represents a replication of the Gouvier et al. survey in samples of individuals residing in Western New York Sta te and Southern Ontario, Canada. The results of the current study are consistent with those reported by Gouvier et al., namely that misconce ptions about brain injury are common. The impact of these misconceptio ns for individuals with brain injury are discussed.