Can teenagers with traumatic brain injury use Internet chatrooms? A systematic review of the literature and the Internet

PURPOSE: To systematically review literature and electronic resources that address the topic of chatroom use of teenagers with and without traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHOD: Electronic databases and websites on the Internet were searched up to and including 25 June 2009, using terms relating to chatroom use of teenagers without and with TBI. A separate search was conducted on speechBITETM (www.speechbite.com ), using fields specific to target area, intervention and population. Literature and websites were included if they contained target search terms and were relevant to the topic of chatroom use of teenagers. RESULTS: A total of 46 sources from database searches and 66 websites from Internet searches were included in this systematic review. Most database sources were level IV evidence studies and mainly addressed chatroom and Internet use of typically-developing teenagers. Websites contained many brain injury information pages and links to chatrooms, as well as references to journal articles and books concerning chatroom use. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the lack of literature in the area of chatroom use of teenagers with TBI, there is potential to expand on existing literature and Internet resources to enable teenagers with TBI to access, participate and use this forum for social interaction and meaningful communication with peers.