Predictors of functional ability of Australian children with acquired brain injury following inpatient rehabilitation

Objective: Recently, Bedell reported data from the US on functional changes during inpatient rehabilitation for children with ABI. Similar data for Australia is not available. The aim of this study was to measure functional outcomes of children admitted to rehabilitation in Victoria, Australia and to explore predictors of outcome to contribute to international benchmarking of paediatric services. Method: The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) was administered to 72 children (aged 8 months to 16 years) within 3 days of admission to rehabilitation and again in the 3 days prior to discharge to measure functional skills in self-care, mobility and social function. Outcome data for the three domains are described and baseline and injury characteristics explored as predictors of outcome using linear regression models. Results: Significant improvements in PEDI scores across all domains were demonstrated from admission to discharge. Older age at injury, higher baseline scores and being female were all predictive of better outcomes at discharge. Conclusions: Findings revealed that patterns of recovery in this sample were similar to those reported in previous studies. Continued use of the PEDI for inpatient rehabilitation is recommended to further investigate effects of injury type and the impact of therapy on outcome.