Validation of the Early Functional Abilities scale: An assessment of four dimensions in early recovery after traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: The Early Functional Abilities scale assesses the restoration of brain function after brain injury, based on 4 dimensions. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the validity, objectivity, reliability and measurement precision of the Early Functional Abilities scale by Rasch model item analysis. A secondary objective was to examine the relationship between the Early Functional Abilities scale and the Functional Independence Measurement™, in order to establish the criterion validity of the Early Functional Abilities scale and to compare the sensitivity of measurements using the 2 instruments. METHODS: The Rasch analysis was based on the assessment of 408 adult patients at admission to sub-acute rehabilitation in Copenhagen, Denmark after traumatic brain injury. RESULTS: The Early Functional Abilities scale provides valid and objective measurement of vegetative (autonomic), facio-oral, sensorimotor and communicative/cognitive functions. Removal of one item from the sensorimotor scale confirmed unidimensionality for each of the 4 subscales, but not for the entire scale. The Early Functional Abilities subscales are sensitive to differences between patients in ranges in which the Functional Independence Measurement™ has a floor effect. CONCLUSION: The Early Functional Abilities scale assesses the early recovery of important aspects of brain function after traumatic brain injury, but is not unidimensional. We recommend removal of the "standing" item and calculation of summary subscales for the separate dimensions.

Adult cognitive ability and educational level in relation to concussions in childhood and adolescence: a population study of young men.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of concussion(s) suffered through childhood and adolescence with completed level of school education and cognitive ability in young adulthood. METHODS: Educational level and scores on a test of cognitive ability were obtained for a cohort of 130,298 young men processed by the Danish draft board. Of these, 6146 had, at some age from birth onwards, been briefly admitted to hospital with a main discharge diagnosis of concussion. A further 402 had two such concussions and 48 had three or more. RESULTS: Educational level and cognitive ability test scores were negatively associated with the number of concussions and the age at concussion(s). Most markedly, compared to the 123,684 non-concussed men, those with two or more concussions had lower educational levels (OR = 0.48; 95% CI = 0.26-0.89), as also did those sustaining one concussion between the age of 13 up to the time of testing (OR = 0.47: 0.42-0.52). CONCLUSIONS: Since concussions do not generally have long-term effects, the results suggest that lower educational level is primarily a risk factor for sustaining a concussion at all ages, but in particular in adolescence more than in childhood and in the case of multiple concussions. It should, however, be recognized that, in some proportion of cases, the educational deficits have probably arisen as a consequence of the persistent symptoms of a lengthy post-concussional syndrome.

Occurrence and severity of agitated behavior after severe traumatic brain injury.

PURPOSE: To investigate the occurrence and severity of agitation in patients after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), to identify predictors of agitation and to study interrater reliability for a translated version of the Agitated Behavior Scale (ABS). DESIGN: Prospective observational study. From November 1, 2006, through October 2007, 46 consecutive patients with TBI were included in the early rehabilitation phase following neurosurgical intervention. Agitated behavior was assessed by the ABS, which was implemented in clinical practice. Logistic regression analysis identified predictors of agitated behavior and Intra Class Correlation was used to analyze reliability. FINDINGS: Agitated behavior occurred in 41% of patients, of whom one third exhibited severely agitated behavior. The interrater reliability between three nurses was good to excellent. CONCLUSIONS: Using ABS as a tool in care of patients with agitated behavior may be effective through working as a common language. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: We recommend the use of ABS as a routine assessment in early rehabilitation of patients with TBI.

Long-term global and regional brain volume changes following severe traumatic brain injury: a longitudinal study with clinical correlates.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in neurodegenerative changes that progress for months, perhaps even years post-injury. However, there is little information on the spatial distribution and the clinical significance of this late atrophy. In 24 patients who had sustained severe TBI we acquired 3D T1-weighted MRIs about 8 weeks and 12 months post-injury. For comparison, 14 healthy controls with similar distribution of age, gender and education were scanned with a similar time interval. For each subject, longitudinal atrophy was estimated using SIENA, and atrophy occurring before the first scan time point using SIENAX. Regional distribution of atrophy was evaluated using tensor-based morphometry (TBM). At the first scan time point, brain parenchymal volume was reduced by mean 8.4% in patients as compared to controls. During the scan interval, patients exhibited continued atrophy with percent brain volume change (%BVC) ranging between -0.6% and -9.4% (mean -4.0%). %BVC correlated significantly with injury severity, functional status at both scans, and with 1-year outcome. Moreover, %BVC improved prediction of long-term functional status over and above what could be predicted using functional status at approximately 8 weeks. In patients as compared to controls, TBM (permutation test, FDR 0.05) revealed a large coherent cluster of significant atrophy in the brain stem and cerebellar peduncles extending bilaterally through the thalamus, internal and external capsules, putamen, inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculus, corpus callosum and corona radiata. This indicates that the long-term atrophy is attributable to consequences of traumatic axonal injury. Despite progressive atrophy, remarkable clinical improvement occurred in most patients.

The association of functional oral intake and pneumonia in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence and onset time of pneumonia for patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the early phase of rehabilitation and to identify parameters associated with the risk of pneumonia. DESIGN: Observational retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Subacute rehabilitation department in a university hospital in Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=173) aged 16 to 65 years with severe TBI who were admitted during a 5-year period. Patients are transferred to the brain injury unit as soon as they ventilate spontaneously. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Pneumonia. RESULTS: Twenty-seven percent of the patients admitted to the brain injury unit were in treatment for pneumonia; pneumonia developed in 12% of the patients during rehabilitation; the condition occurred within 19 days of admission in all but 1 patient. Of these patients, 81% received nothing by mouth. Three factors identified patients at highest risk of pneumonia: Glasgow Coma Scale score less than 9 (1 day after cessation of sedation); Rancho Los Amigos Scale score less than 3 (on admission); and no oral intake on admission. Having a tracheotomy tube and/or feeding tube was also associated with a higher occurrence of pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with severe TBI, 27% had pneumonia at transfer from the intensive care unit. Pneumonia developed in only 12% of the participants during rehabilitation. Patients with a low level of consciousness and patients with a tracheotomy tube or feeding tube had a higher likelihood of pneumonia.

Functional oral intake and time to reach unrestricted dieting for patients with traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the status of functional oral intake for patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and time to return to unrestricted dieting; and to investigate whether severity of brain injury is a predictor for unrestricted dieting. DESIGN: Observational retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Subacute rehabilitation department, university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients age 16 to 65 years (N=173) with severe TBI (posttraumatic amnesia from 7d to >6 mo) admitted over a 5-year period. Patients are transferred to the brain injury unit as soon as they ventilate spontaneously. INTERVENTION: Facial oral tract therapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Unrestricted dieting assessed by the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS). RESULTS: We found that 93% of all patients had problems with functional oral intake at admission. Within 126 days of rehabilitation, 64% recovered to unrestricted dieting before discharge. The chance of returning to total oral diet depends on the severity of the brain injury and can be predicted by Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS; measured the day after cessation of sedation; Wald chi(2)=42.78, P<.01), Rancho Los Amigos Scale (RLAS) level (Wald chi(2)=11.84, P=.01), FIM instrument (Wald chi(2)=44.40, P<.01), and FOIS score at admission (Wald chi(2)=82.93, P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: Impairment in functional oral intake was found to be very common for patients with severe TBI admitted to a subacute rehabilitation department. For those who recovered during hospital rehabilitation, return to unrestricted dieting happened within 126 days of rehabilitation. The chance of returning to unrestricted dieting depends on the severity of the brain injury and can be predicted by GCS score, RLAS level, FIM score, and functional oral intake at admission. These results are important when planning rehabilitation, giving information to patients and relatives, and designing efficacy studies of facial oral tract therapy, which are highly recommended.

Diffusion tensor imaging during recovery from severe traumatic brain injury and relation to clinical outcome: a longitudinal study.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been proposed as a sensitive biomarker of traumatic white matter injury, which could potentially serve as a tool for prognostic assessment and for studying microstructural changes during recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies on TBI that follow DTI changes over time and correlate findings with long-term clinical outcome. We performed a prospective longitudinal study of 30 adult patients admitted for subacute rehabilitation following severe traumatic brain injury. DTI and conventional MRI were acquired at mean 8 weeks (5-11 weeks), and repeated in 23 of the patients at mean 12 months (9-15 months) post-trauma. Using a region-of-interest-based approach, DTI parameters were compared to those of healthy matched controls, scanned during the same time period and rescanned with a similar interval as that of patients. At the initial scan, fractional anisotropy was reduced in all the investigated white matter regions in patients compared to controls (P

A Danish national strategy for treatment and rehabilitation after acquired brain injury.

This study describes the establishment of a Danish national strategy for treatment and rehabilitation of acquired brain injury, particularly traumatic brain injury, in 1997. The vision was to create a system of tax-financed continuous treatment, restoration of function, and outpatient rehabilitation. Recommendations and their fulfillment are described. Focus is on the establishment and function of early intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation after severe traumatic brain injury, centralized as 2 units since the year 2000, each with half the country as uptake area, corresponding to populations of around 2.5 million. Advantages gained by this centralization are increased focus on brain injury so that everybody gets specialized rehabilitation, regardless of the prognosis, the introduction of a database for severe brain injuries with unified measures of function and outcome, and the creation of a basis for method development and interdisciplinary research. Results for the first 3 years also indicate that outcome is improved after centralization.

Symptomatic heterotopic ossification after very severe traumatic brain injury in 114 patients: incidence and risk factors.

The incidence of heterotopic ossification (HO) among patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) varies in the literature from 11 to 73.3%. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of HO among patients with very severe TBI treated in a new established intensive rehabilitation Brain Injury Unit and to list some of the risk-predicting features. The study comprised an approximately complete, consecutive series of 114 adult patients from a well-defined geographical area, and with a posttraumatic amnesia period of at least 28 days, i.e. very severe TBI. Demographic and functional data as well as data about trauma severity and hospital stay of these patients have been registered prospectively in a database (Danish National Head Injury database) at the Brain Injury Unit where the sub acute rehabilitation took place. The present study was based retrospectively on this database, combined with X-rays obtained for symptoms of HO and/or as fracture control. Clinically significant HO was found in 7.9% of the patients. Logistic regression showed an independent significant positive correlation between HO, the female gender and a high Injury Severity Score. The low incidence of HO might be explained by the application of early mobilisation and physiotherapy of the patients. The higher incidence of HO among women speaks for humoural and hormone factors initiating bone formation outside the bones.