Search

The article analyzes the character Inara from the television series "Firefly" directed by Joss Whedon.

Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been associated with increased mortality. This study characterizes long-term mortality, life expectancy, causes of death, and risk factors for death among patients admitted within the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) TBI Model Systems Programs (TBIMS) who lack command following at the time of admission for inpatient TBI rehabilitation. Of the 8084 persons enrolled from 1988 and 2009, 387 from 20 centers met study criteria. Individuals with moderate to severe TBI who received inpatient rehabilitation were 2.2 times more likely to die than individuals in the U.S. general population of similar age, gender, and race, with an average life expectancy (LE) reduction of 6.6 years. The subset of individuals who were unable to follow commands on admission to rehabilitation was 6.9 times more likely to die, with an average LE reduction of 12.2 years. Relative to the U.S. general population matched for age, gender, and race/ethnicity, these non-command following individuals were more than four times more likely to die of circulatory conditions, 44 times more likely to die of pneumonia, and 38 times more likely to die of aspiration pneumonia. The subset of individuals with TBI who are unable to follow commands upon admission to inpatient rehabilitation are at a significantly increased risk of death when compared with the U.S. general population and compared with all individuals with moderate to severe TBI receiving inpatient rehabilitation. Respiratory causes of death predominate, compared with the general population.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are underlying dimensions common among traditional traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity indices and, if so, the extent to which they are interchangeable when predicting short-term outcomes. This study had an observational design, and took place in United States trauma centers reporting to the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB). The sample consisted of 77,470 unweighted adult cases reported to the NTDB from 2007 to 2010, with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) TBI codes. There were no interventions. Severity indices used were the Emergency Department Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) Total score and each of the subscales for eye opening (four levels), verbal response (five levels), and motor response (six levels); the worst Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) severity score for the head (six levels); and the worst Barell index type (three categories). Prediction models were computed for acute care length of stay (days), intensive care unit length of stay (days), hospital discharge status (alive or dead), and, if alive, discharge disposition (home versus institutional). Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) indicated a two dimensional relationship among items of severity indexes. The primary dimension reflected overall injury severity. The second dimension seemed to capture volitional behavior without the capability for cogent responding. Together, they defined two vectors around which most of the items clustered. A scale that took advantage of the order of items along these vectors proved to be the most consistent index for predicting short-term health outcomes. MCA provided useful insight into the relationships among components of traditional TBI severity indices. The two vector pattern may reflect the impact of injury on different cortical and subcortical networks. Results are discussed in terms of score substitution and the ability to impute missing values.