The impact of delays in transfer to specialist rehabilitation on outcomes in patients with acquired brain injury.

Clin Rehabil

Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C), Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

Published: November 2024

Objective: To determine the effect of time waiting for admission to inpatient neurorehabilitation following acquired brain injury on rehabilitation outcomes.

Design: A retrospective observational case series.

Setting: A specialist brain injury inpatient rehabilitation service.

Subjects: Consecutive 235 admissions to specialist brain injury rehabilitation following acutely-acquired brain injury between 2019 and 2022.

Main Measures: Waiting time from the point of injury to admission, diagnostic category, admission complexity (patient categorisation tool), functional status (functional independence measure/functional attainment measure), care needs (Northwick Park Care Needs Assessment), change in functional status and care needs over duration of admission (efficiency). Subgroup analysis was performed for patients with a tracheostomy, enteral feeding, anticonvulsant treatment and prior neurosurgery.

Results: There was no relationship between admission wait and initial complexity (= 0.006;  = 0.923), functional status (= -0.070;  = 0.284) or care needs (= 0.019;  = 0.768). Longer waiting times were significantly associated with reduced efficiency of rehabilitation (= -0.240;  = 0.0002) and change of care needs (= -0.246;  = 0.0001). Longer waits were associated with reduced rehabilitation efficiency for patients prescribed anticonvulsants ( = 115; = -0.243;  = 0.009), with a tracheostomy ( = 46; = -0.362;  = 0.013), requiring enteral nutrition ( = 137; = -0.237;  = 0.005) or having had intracranial surgery ( = 97; = -0.344;  = 0.0006). There was a negative association between waiting times and reduction in care needs for patients admitted on anticonvulsants (= -0.319;  = 0.0005) and requiring enteral nutrition (= -0.269;  = 0.001).

Conclusion: Longer wait for transfer to rehabilitation following brain injury is associated with reduced improvement in functional status and care needs over time. Attention should be given to ensuring rapid transfer into inpatient rehabilitation services.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02692155241284866DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

brain injury
24
functional status
16
associated reduced
12
rehabilitation
8
acquired brain
8
injury rehabilitation
8
specialist brain
8
inpatient rehabilitation
8
status care
8
waiting times
8

Similar Publications

Molecular biomarkers associated with TBI outcome in individuals of Black racial identity or African ancestry: a narrative review.

World Neurosurg

December 2024

College of Medicine, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Global Neurosurgery Laboratory, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Department of Neurology, One Brooklyn Health/Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Department of Neurology; SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Institute for Genomics in Health, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University; Department of Surgery, One Brooklyn Health/Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Electronic address:

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide and a major global health concern. In the United States (US), individuals of Black or African American racial identity experience disproportionately higher rates of TBI and suffer from worse post-injury outcomes. Contemporary research agendas have largely overlooked or excluded Black populations, resulting in the continued marginalization of Black patient populations in TBI studies, thereby limiting the generalizability of ongoing research to patients in the US and around the world.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

DYT-THAP1 dystonia is a monogenetic form of dystonia, a movement disorder characterized by the involuntary co-contraction of agonistic and antagonistic muscles. The disease is caused by mutations in the THAP1 gene, although the precise mechanisms by which these mutations contribute to the pathophysiology of dystonia remain unclear. The incomplete penetrance of DYT-THAP1 dystonia, estimated at 40 to 60 %, suggests that an environmental trigger may be required for the manifestation of the disease in genetically predisposed individuals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Growing evidence reveals that microglia activation and neuroinflammatory responses trigger cell loss in the brain. Histamine is a critical neurotransmitter and promotes inflammatory responses; thus, the histaminergic system is a potential target for treating neurodegenerative processes. JNJ-7777120, a histamine H4 receptor (HR) antagonist, has been shown to alleviate inflammation, brain damage, and behavioral deficits effectively, but there is no report on its role in brain trauma.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Blood transfusions in craniotomy for tumor resection: Incidence, risk factors, and outcomes.

J Clin Neurosci

December 2024

Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. Electronic address:

Background: Blood transfusions (BT) are often needed in neurosurgical procedures, especially craniotomies for tumor resections, due to risks of anemia, ischemic brain injury, and hemorrhage. However, BT may increase the risk of perioperative complications. This study aimed to determine the incidence, associated factors, and outcomes of BT in patients undergoing craniotomy for intracranial tumor resection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Historical and Clinical Foundations of the Modern Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit.

World Neurosurg

December 2024

Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Unit, Department of Neurology and Feil Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA. Electronic address:

The subspecialty of neurocritical care has grown significantly over the past 40 years along with advancements in the medical and surgical management of neurological emergencies. The modern neuroscience intensive care unit (neuro-ICU) is grounded in close collaboration between neurointensivists and neurosurgeons in the management of patients with such conditions as ischemic stroke, aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, subdural hematomas, and traumatic brain injury. Neuro-ICUs are also capable of specialized monitoring such as serial neurological examinations by trained neuro-ICU nurses; invasive monitoring of intracranial pressure, cerebral oxygenation, and cerebral hemodynamics; cerebral microdialysis; and noninvasive monitoring, including the use of pupillometry, ultrasound monitoring of optic nerve sheath diameters, transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, near-infrared spectroscopy, and continuous electroencephalography.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!