Journal
ARCHIVES OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION
Volume 99, Issue 5, Pages 952-959Publisher
W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2017.12.035
Keywords
Brain injury; chronic; Multiple trauma; Rehabilitation; Veterans; United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Categories
Funding
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Department of Health and Human Services (National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research)
- VHA Central Office VA TBI Model System Program of Research
- General Dynamics Health Solutions from the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center within the Defense Health Agency [W91YTZ-13-C-0015]
- Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objectives: To present initial descriptive findings from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers (PRC) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model Systems (MS) National Database. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: VA PRC TBIMS National Database. Participants: 712 service members and veterans with TBI who consented to participate between January 2010 and June 2015. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Demographics, preinjury characteristics, injury characteristics, rehabilitation course, functional outcomes, and discharge disposition by TBI severity level. Results: The study cohort was predominantly male with moderate to severe TBI secondary to vehicular accident or blast injury. Sixty-five percent were active duty service members; one-third had been injured during deployment. One-third reported mental health treatment and/or alcohol use problems in the year predating the index TBI. The median number of days between injury and PRC admission was 42.5. Nearly 25% reported clinical levels of posttraumatic stress disorder; 75% reported mild to moderate neurobehavioral symptomatology. The median length of stay in the PRC was 36 days; those with severe TBI had the longest lengths of stay. Functional independence ratings improved from admission to discharge across all TBI severity levels. A majority were discharged to urban areas to reside with spouses or other residents in private residences or adult homes, with some variability by injury severity. Conclusions: The VA PRC TBIMS national database is a rich source of information on a unique group of individuals with TBI and promises to complement existing knowledge on TBI in the civilian population. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available