title: [Medical and social characteristics and treatment plans for brain-damaged patients hospitalized].
abstract: The study objective was to better understand the clinical and social characteristics, and the treatment plans, of brain-damaged patients who were hospitalized longer than one month in acute care units. A 6-month descriptive prospective epidemiological study of 90 patients was carried out. The average length of stay (LOS) was 84 +/- 73 days. Patients were severely disabled: 17.83% of patients showed a Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) 2, 70% a GOS 3 and 12.2%, a GOS > or =4. Two-thirds of the patients had social difficulties that influenced their LOS (68.4 days when social difficulties <3, versus 157.4 days when > or =3). An average of 4 rehabilitation settings were solicited per patient. The actual rehabilitation setting matched the patient's and team's wishes in only 63.4% of the cases. Several proposals are discussed to improve overall management of care for brain-damaged patients: the need to establish a mobile steering team, to improve multidisciplinary approaches, and to create acute physical medicine and rehabilitation units.
authors.affiliation: Département de biostatistiques, de santé publique et information médicale, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47/83 bd de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris cedex 14, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bourdillon
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mazevet
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morin
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ségouin
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rufat
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pradat-Diehl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors