Clinical predictors of neuropsychological outcomes in persons with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury in an outpatient rehabilitation setting
Abstract
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major medical concern, often resulting in death or lasting neurological impairments. Researching individual outcomes following rehabilitation in TBI survivors is important as it aids in the development of preventative measures, anticipated care needs, and can be used to reduce acute and post-acute secondary death and disability. The present study involved secondary data analysis to examine neuropsychological outcome data. Outcome data was obtained after the completion of brain injury rehabilitation in persons with TBI who graduated from an intensive, holistic, outpatient program. The relationship between pre-admission variables and neuropsychological outcomes were examined in the context of a unique and well-defined population based sample. Participants included 91 adults with medically diagnosed TBI. These individuals also completed outpatient brain injury rehabilitation and were classified as having a moderate-severe injury, as determined by the Mayo Classification System for TBI Severity. The relationships between pre-admissions variables and outcomes were examined with various hierarchical regression models to determine clinical predictors of optimal recovery. Graduates of the program showed no significant differences in improvements in outcome, indicating that pre-admission variables did not predict differences in treatment gains. These findings may be due to restricted sample variance and size resulting from the very selective participation inclusion criteria. However, various correlations, post-hoc analyses, and trends between injury-related variables and functional outcomes warrant future research to further examine such inconsistencies with previous literature in greater detail. Keywords: traumatic brain injury, outpatient rehabilitation, injury severity, clinical predictors, neuropsychological outcomes were examined in the context of a unique and well-defined population based sample. Participants included 91 adults with medically diagnosed TBI. These individuals also completed outpatient brain injury rehabilitation and were classified as having a moderate-severe injury, as determined by the Mayo Classification System for TBI Severity. The relationships between pre-admissions variables and outcomes were examined with various hierarchical regression models to determine clinical predictors of optimal recovery. Graduates of the program showed no significant differences in improvements in outcome, indicating that pre-admission variables did not predict differences in treatment gains. These findings may be due to restricted sample variance and size resulting from the very selective participation inclusion criteria. However, various correlations, post-hoc analyses, and trends between injury-related variables and functional outcomes warrant future research to further examine such inconsistencies with previous literature in greater detail.