Effects of Patient Preinjury and Injury Characteristics on Acute Rehabilitation Outcomes for Traumatic Brain Injury

Objective To examine associations of patient and injury characteristics with outcomes at inpatient rehabilitation discharge and 9 months postdischarge for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design Prospective, longitudinal observational study. Setting Inpatient rehabilitation centers. Participants Consecutive patients (N=2130) enrolled between 2008 and 2011, admitted for inpatient rehabilitation after index TBI, and divided into 5 subgroups based on rehabilitation admission FIM cognitive score. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Rehabilitation length of stay, discharge to home, and FIM at discharge and 9 months postdischarge. Results Severity indices increased explained variation in outcomes beyond that accounted for by patient characteristics. FIM motor scores were generally the most predictable. Higher functioning subgroups had more predictable outcomes then subgroups with lower cognitive function at admission. Age at injury, time from injury to rehabilitation admission, and functional independence at rehabilitation admission were the most consistent predictors across all outcomes and subgroups. Conclusions Findings from previous studies of the relations among patient and injury characteristics and rehabilitation outcomes were largely replicated. Discharge outcomes were most strongly associated with injury severity characteristics, whereas predictors of functional independence at 9 months postdischarge included both patient and injury characteristics.