The influence of post-acute rehabilitation length of stay on traumatic brain injury outcome: a retrospective exploratory study

Objective: Data regarding length of stay (LOS) in a rehabilitation programme after traumatic brain injury (TBI) are limited. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of LOS and disability on outcome following TBI.Methods: Records from patients in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme at least 3months after TBI were analysed retrospectively to study the influence of LOS on functional outcome at different levels of disability. Functional status was determined by the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (MPAI) and the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ). Patients were further grouped by time since injury of 3-12months or over 1year.Results: Those with a mild and moderate disabilities and over 1 year chronicity showed improvements after 90days of rehabilitation. Patients with a severe disability and over 1year chronicity required at least 180days to show improvements. Moderately and severely disabled patients with an injury chronicity of 3-12months showed improvements in the MPAI after 90days. However, further improvement was observed after 180days in the severely disabled group.Conclusions: Results suggest that both, level of disability and injury chronicity, should be considered when determining LOS. Data also show an association between LOS and changes in the MPAI and CIQ.