Comparison of attention process training and activity-based attention training after acquired brain injury: A randomized controlled study.
Kristina Sargénius Landahl, Marie-Louise Schult, Kristian Borg and 1 others
PMID 34554264WHAT IT FOUND
Attention Process Training (APT) improved specific work skills like mental energy and organization more than Activity-based Attention Training (ABAT).
However, both groups improved similarly in daily life satisfaction and general work ability, so neither approach proved superior for overall occupational outcomes.
Key findings
01APT showed significant advantages over ABAT in specific process skills during a structured work task, including mental energy, knowledge, temporal organization, and adaptation.
02There were no significant differences between APT and ABAT on global measures of daily occupational performance or satisfaction.
03Both groups improved significantly within themselves on self-rated work ability and observed attentional behaviors, but the magnitude of improvement did not differ between treatments.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Post-intervention and follow-up assessments were not blinded because they were conducted by the participants' own therapy team, which may have introduced bias in subjective or observational measures. The study had a relatively small sample size (51 participants) and strict inclusion criteria (mild to moderate injury, no aphasia/neglect), limiting generalizability to more severe or complex cases. Some key measures (COPM and RSAB) were not repeated at the 3-month follow-up, so long-term sustainability of improvements in daily life satisfaction and observed behavior could not be assessed. Participants received a concurrent interdisciplinary rehabilitation program, making it difficult to isolate the specific contribution of the attention training components alone.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that APT is the superior treatment for overall rehabilitation. While APT improved specific cognitive skills on a structured task, both APT and ABAT produced similar gains in patients' self-reported daily life performance and satisfaction, meaning neither approach was clearly better for broader functional outcomes.