Factors affecting functional outcomes of traumatic brain injury rehabilitation at a rehabilitation facility in Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the factors that affect disability after inpatient rehabilitation (IPR) in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: This retrospective study identified 140 patients aged >/=16 years who were admitted to the TBI rehabilitation unit at King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between 2015 and 2017. The collected data included demographic variables, TBI cause, coma duration, time from injury to IPR, LOS, and Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores at IPR admission and discharge. RESULTS: Majority of the patients were young males. The TBI was caused by motor vehicle accidents (MVA) in 95% of patients. The mean coma duration, time from injury to IPR admission, and LOS were 47+/-38, 264+/-357, and 75+/-52 days, respectively. The factors that were found to have an association with FIM change were time from injury to IPR admission (p=0.003, r=-0.250), admission FIM score (p=0.003, r=-0.253), and discharge FIM score (p<0.001, r=0.390). Employed patients had high FIM scores at admission (p=0.029, r=0.184) and discharge (p=0.003, r=0.252). CONCLUSION: Reduction in disability at discharge was positively associated with the severity of disability at admission and negatively with the time duration from injury to IPR admission, indicating a need to reduce time before admittance to an IPR setup. The high incidence of MVA causing TBI in a young male population strongly points to a need for appropriate measures of prevention.

TSLP and TSLP receptors variants are associated with smoking.

BACKGROUND: To search for new prevention markers for early detection of the diseases caused by tobacco, we aimed to investigate the polymorphisms in TSLP and TSLPRs associated with cigarette smoking in the Saudi population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Samples were collected from 177 smokers and 126 healthy controls. Three TSLP SNPs [rs3806933, rs2289276, and rs10043985], three TSLPR SNPs [rs36133495, rs36177645, and rs36139698], and two IL7R SNPs rs1053496 and rs12516866 were analyzed by genotyping. RESULTS: Two TSLP SNPs (rs10043985 and rs3806933) and one TSLPR SNP (rs36139698) showed significant correlations with smoking behavior, but not IL7R rs12516866 and rs1053496. rs10043985 showed a clear association with long-term smoking regardless of daily cigarette consumption. rs2289276 was associated with short-term smoking but not with daily cigarette consumption. rs3806933 was highly associated with different smoker subgroups. Rs36139698 was highly associated with long-term smokers who consumed ≥20 cigarettes/day, and the "T" allele was associated only with individuals who smoked ≤20 cigarettes/day. Rs36139698 corresponds to a P195L substitution and produces a TSLPR mutant with a predicted ΔΔG increase of 2.15 kcal/mol and has a more stable structure than the wild-type variant. CONCLUSIONS: Investigating TSLP and TSLPR polymorphisms is crucial for elucidating the mechanisms underlying tobacco-induced diseases.