Functional outcomes from inpatient rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury: How do Hispanics fare?

Objective: To examine the relation between Hispanic ethnicity and rehabilitation outcome in traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Longitudinal dataset of the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems national database. Participants: Persons (N=3056; 2745 whites vs 311 Hispanics) with moderate to severe TBI hospitalized between 1989 and 2003. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Functional outcomes at discharge and 1-year follow-up (Disability Rating Scale [DRS], FIM instrument). Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOS-E), and the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) were measured at follow-up only. Results: At admission, Hispanics were less educated (P <=.001), earned less money (P <=.05), and were younger (P <=.001) than whites. Hispanics had lower GOS-E scores (P <=.01) at acute hospital admission compared with whites. Despite similar functional status at inpatient rehabilitation discharge, Hispanic ethnicity was associated with poorer functional outcomes at I year postinjury (DRS, FIM, CIQ), after controlling for age, length of posttraumatic amnesia, injury severity, DRS score at admission, FIM score at admission, and preinjury educational level (P <.05). Conclusions: Hispanics showed significantly reduced long-term functional outcome after rehabilitation relative to whites. Rehabilitation professionals should recognize the possible impact of individual differences and diverse sociodemographic, injury, and rehabilitation characteristics so that differential