Study shows TBI patients have significant interruptions during rehab

A new study revealed that brain injury patients, along with stroke and spinal cord injury patients who are in inpatient rehabilitation, have significant rates of interruption of their treatment.

The study was recently published in the Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation , the official journal of the Association of Academic Physiatrists. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Interruptions often include being transferred back to the hospital for treatment of complications.

“But at least 10 percent of these interruptions and transfers are potentially preventable, suggesting opportunities to improve patient outcomes while lowering the costs of care,” according to information in an article by Science Daily. “The researchers analyzed Medicare data on patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation for one of three neurological conditions: about 72,000 patients with stroke, 7,100 with traumatic brain injury, and 660 with spinal cord injury (SCI). All were admitted to rehab directly from the hospital.”

Results of the study showed that program interruptions for the three types of patients occurred in approximately 0.9 percent of those with stroke, 0.8 percent with brain injury, and 1.4 percent with SCI. In nearly all of the cases, the patient was transferred to an acute care hospital, usually because of some type of complication.

“Short-stay transfers occurred in about 22 percent of patients with stroke or brain injury, and nearly 32 percent of those with SCI,” the article reads. “About one-third of these patients were also transferred back to acute-care hospitals. (Others were transferred to skilled nursing facilities.)”

According to the study, about 11 to 12 percent of program interruptions could have potentially been preventable.

“Of the short-term transfers, about 15 percent were potentially preventable in the patients with stroke, ten percent with brain injury, and four percent with SCI,” the article reads. “Preventable causes of short-term transfers included problems like dehydration, heart failure, pneumonia, and urinary tract infections.”

The new study is one of the first ever to focus on the impact of program interruptions for patients with brain injury.

“The researchers believe that potentially preventable re-hospitalizations are a ‘clear target’ for efforts to improve the quality of rehabilitation care. Future studies may identify modifiable risk factors that could be targeted for preventive efforts.”