Overview of traumatic brain injury patients at a tertiary trauma centre.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to provide a general descriptive and cognitive portrait of a population with traumatic brain injury (TBI) at the time of their acute care stay.


METHODS
Three hundred and forty-eight TBI patients were assessed. The following data were collected for each patient: age, level of education, duration of post-traumatic amnesia, Galveston Orientation Amnesia Test score, Glasgow Coma Scale score, results of cerebral imaging, Neurobehavioral Rating Scale score, the Functional Independence Measure cognitive score and the Glasgow Outcome Scale score.


RESULTS
The clinical profile of the population revealed a mean age of 40.2 (+/-18.7) and a mean of 11.5 (+/-3.6) years of education. Most patients presented with frontal (57.6%) and temporal (40%) lesions. Sixty-two percent had post-traumatic amnesia of less than 24 hours. Seventy percent presented with mild TBI, 14% with moderate and 15% with severe TBI. The cognitive deficits most frequently observed on the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale were in the areas of attention, memory and mental flexibility as well as slowness and mental fatigability. Most patients had good cognitive outcome on the Functional Independence Measure and scores of 2 and 3 were frequent on the GOS. Forty-five percent of the patients returned home after discharge, 51.7% were referred to in or out patient rehabilitation and 3.2% were transferred to long-term care facilities.


CONCLUSIONS
Because of the specialized mandate of acute care institutions, the information provided here concerning characteristics of our TBI population is essential for more efficient decision-making and planning/programming with regards to care and service delivery.
de Guise
Elaine
E
Traumatic Brain Injury Program, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Feyz
Mitra
M
LeBlanc
Joanne
J
Richard
Sylvain-Luc
SL
Lamoureux
Julie
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004522:Educational Status; D023261:Glasgow Outcome Scale / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011792:Quebec; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014193:Trauma Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*