Effects of group versus individual therapy for patients with memory disorder after an acquired brain injury: A randomized,controlled study

Introduction: This randomized, controlled, single-blind study compared the efficacy of group versus individual memory rehabilitation therapy for patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Subjects (N = 65) were assigned to individual (IT), group (GT), or no (NT) therapy during the three-week rehabilitation program. A neuropsychological assessment was conducted before treatment, immediately after completing treatment, and 4 months after completing treatment. Three levels of functioning were assessed: participation, disability, and impairment. The primary outcome measure was the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT). The results of the cognitive measures in the three groups at subsequent assessments were compared, and the effect sizes were calculated to investigate the magnitude of improvement.

Results: There were no significant changes in self-reported patient memory problems for the participation-level measures. However, relatives of participants in the GT group reported a decreased frequency of memory failures (p = .026). According to the ability-level measure (RBMT), both therapeutic groups had similar significant improvements (p < .001), and the effect sizes were large in both groups. Although the NT group also improved (p = .015), the effect size was small. The differences between the three groups were not significant according to analysis of variance (ANOVA). However, after therapy was completed, only the GT group continued to improve (p = .013). For the impairment-level measures, the IT group showed significant improvement post treatment in three out of four measures (p < .05). This group had medium effect sizes, while the other groups showed a small or marginal effect.

Conclusions: Cognitive rehabilitation – either in a group or individually – led to equally enhanced memory functioning in ABI patients, but the effects were not significantly different from those for patients in the NT group. GT and IT had specific effects on different levels of functioning.