Factor Structure of ImPACT® in Adolescent Student Athletes.

Objective: ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) is a computerized neuropsychological screening battery, which is widely used to measure the acute effects of sport-related concussion and to monitor recovery from injury. This study examined the factor structure of ImPACT in several samples of high school student athletes. We hypothesized that a 2-factor structure would be present in all samples.

Functional Status Outperforms Comorbidities as a Predictor of 30-Day Acute Care Readmissions in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Population.

Objectives: Functional status is associated with patient outcomes, but is rarely included in hospital readmission risk models. The objective of this study was to determine whether functional status is a better predictor of 30-day acute care readmission than traditionally investigated variables including demographics and comorbidities.

Design: Retrospective database analysis between 2002 and 2011.

Psychometric Properties of the Modified 5-D Itch Scale in a Burn Model System Sample of People With Burn Injury.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the 4-dimension (4-D) itch scale, a modified version of the 5-dimension itch scale, in a sample of individuals with severe burn injury and/or burn injuries to hands, face, and/or feet. Four of the five domains of the 5-dimension itch scale (4-D) were administered to individuals who reported itching (N = 173) in the Burn Injury Model System Centers Program longitudinal study at either 5 or 10 years after injury. Analyses of the scale included evaluation of dimensionality, internal consistency, associations with other symptoms or quality of life measures, and an examination of floor and ceiling effects.

Functional status and readmissions in unilateral hip fractures.

Objectives: To test whether functional status is a robust predictor of acute care readmission risk in patients who have been discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) following a unilateral hip fracture.

Study Design: Retrospective database study using a large administrative data set.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of data from the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation from the years 2002 to 2011 was performed, examining patients with an impairment of unilateral hip fracture.

Resident-Perceived Benefit of a Diagnostic and Interventional Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Curriculum: A Multifaceted Approach Using Independent Study, Peer Teaching, and Interdisciplinary Collaboration.

Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) training is now a required component of physiatry residency, but formal curriculum guidelines are not yet required or established. The authors' objective was to assess the educational value of a collaborative residency MSUS training program. The authors designed a structured MSUS training curriculum for residents based on the authors' experience and previous literature.

Validation of the Community Integration Questionnaire in the adult burn injury population.

Purpose: With improved survival, long-term effects of burn injuries on quality of life, particularly community integration, are important outcomes. This study aims to assess the Community Integration Questionnaire's psychometric properties in the adult burn population.

Methods: Data were obtained from a multicenter longitudinal data set of burn survivors.

Functional Status Outperforms Comorbidities in Predicting Acute Care Readmissions in Medically Complex Patients.

Objective: To examine functional status versus medical comorbidities as predictors of acute care readmissions in medically complex patients.

Design: Retrospective database study.

Setting: U.

Functional Status and Hospital Readmissions Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Background: Hospital readmissions are expensive and they may signal poor quality of care. Whether functional status is related to hospital readmissions using a representative U.S sample remains unexplored .

Inpatient rehabilitation experience of children with burn injuries: a 10-yr review of the uniform data system for medical rehabilitation.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the pediatric burn inpatient rehabilitation population and short-term functional outcomes using the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation.

Design: This is a secondary analysis of data from the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation database between 2002 and 2011 included children younger than 18 yrs at time of admission to inpatient rehabilitation with primary diagnosis of burn injury. Demographic, medical, and functional data were evaluated.

Assessing the ability of comorbidity indexes to capture comorbid disease in the inpatient rehabilitation burn injury population.

Objective: Burn patients exhibit comorbidities that influence outcomes. This study examines whether existing comorbidity measures capture comorbidities in the burn inpatient rehabilitation population.

Design: Data were obtained from the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation from 2002 to 2011 for adults with burn injury.

Coma Recovery Scale-Revised: evidentiary support for hierarchical grading of level of consciousness.

Objective: To investigate the neurobehavioral pattern of recovery of consciousness as reflected by performance on the subscales of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R).

Design: Retrospective item response theory (IRT) and factor analysis.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation facilities.

Benchmarking functional status in older adults.

Objective: To characterize the manner of functional status difficulties with age across multiple functional domains: lower extremity function, upper extremity function, and cognitive/social function. Construct validity of a functional status measure composed of these domains was assessed as part of this goal.

Design: Cross-sectional survey of the community-dwelling civilian population in the United States.

Rehabilitation outcomes among burn injury patients with a second admission to an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Background: Burn survivors tend to have complex medical issues requiring rehabilitation to improve overall function and quality of life. A subset of burn patients treated in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) may require more than 1 rehabilitation stay for the same injury.

Objective: To compare the rehabilitation outcomes among burn patients admitted to an IRF who were discharged to acute care and then readmitted to an IRF with burn patients admitted to an IRF only 1 time.

Cognition in patients with burn injury in the inpatient rehabilitation population.

Objective: To analyze potential cognitive impairment in patients with burn injury in the inpatient rehabilitation population.

Design: Rehabilitation patients with burn injury were compared with the following impairment groups: spinal cord injury, amputation, polytrauma and multiple fractures, and hip replacement. Differences between the groups were calculated for each cognitive subscale item and total cognitive FIM.

Quantitative studies of validity: expanding our understanding of disability.

Purpose: This manuscript seeks to explain why applications of item response theory (IRT) and factor analytic methods provide evidence of validity, and why for the same reasons that they provide evidence of validity, they can advance substantive knowledge.

Methods: A narrative review of the psychometrics literature and disability literature is presented explaining the rationale for the use of quantitative validation methods.

Results: Both the field of psychometrics and the application of psychometric methods in rehabilitation science are expanding rapidly.

Time to rehabilitation in the burn population: incidence of zero onset days in the UDSMR national dataset.

A preliminary investigation of the burn rehabilitation population found a large variability of zero onset day frequency between facilities. Onset days is defined as the time from injury to inpatient rehabilitation admission; this variable has not been investigated in burn patients previously. This study explored if this finding was a facility-based phenomena or characteristic of burn inpatient rehabilitation patients.

Validity and reliability of the FIM instrument in the inpatient burn rehabilitation population.

Objective: To provide evidence of construct validity for the FIM instrument in the inpatient rehabilitation burn population.

Design: Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory were used to assess construct validity. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on a 2-factor model of the FIM instrument and on a 6-subfactor model.

Predictors of transfer from rehabilitation to acute care in burn injuries.

Background: Transfer to acute care from rehabilitation represents an interruption in a patient's recovery and a potential deficiency in quality of care. The objective of this study was to examine predictors of transfer to acute care in the inpatient burn rehabilitation population.

Methods: Data are obtained from Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation from 2002 to 2010 for patients with a primary diagnosis of burn injury.

Age-related trends in intracranial injury outcomes.

Background: Age is an important prognostic indicator of outcomes following traumatic brain injuries. This study examines how outcomes for traumatic brain injuries in the acute care setting have changed during a recent 10-year period.

Methods: Population-level data broken down by age group was obtained from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Web site for the years 2000 to 2009.

The impact of comorbidities and complications on burn injury inpatient rehabilitation outcomes.

Objective: To examine the impact of comorbidities and complications on burn inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) outcomes.

Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation hospitals.

The hierarchy of the activities of daily living in the Katz index in residents of skilled nursing facilities.

Background And Purpose: Nursing facility patients are a population that has not been well studied with regard to functional status and independence previously. As such, the manner in which activities of daily living (ADL) relate to one another is not well understood in this population. An understanding of ADL difficulty ordering has helped to devise systems of functional independence grading in other populations, which have value in understanding patients' global levels of independence and providing expectations regarding changes in function.

Accuracy of self-reported physical activity as an indicator of cardiovascular fitness depends on education level.

Objective: To determine whether there is a relationship between the level of education and the accuracy of self-reported physical activity as a proxy measure of aerobic fitness.

Design: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination from the years 1999 to 2004 were used. Linear regression was performed for measured maximum oxygen consumption (Vo(2)max) versus self-reported physical activity for 5 different levels of education.

Outcomes and predictors in burn rehabilitation.

Advances in burn care in recent decades have resulted in a growing population of burn survivors and an increased need for inpatient rehabilitation. Burn survivors who require inpatient rehabilitation typically experience severe and complicated injuries. The purpose of this study is to examine burn rehabilitation outcomes and their predictor variables.