Hypogonadism on admission to acute rehabilitation is correlated with lower functional status at admission and discharge.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between hormone levels and functional status during acute TBI rehabilitation.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort study of 43 men with moderate-to-severe TBI admitted to an acute rehabilitation unit during a 1 year period.


METHODS
Labs were drawn on admission, including total and free testosterone (T), prolactin, adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH), cortisol, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1). Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores were obtained at admission and discharge.


RESULTS
Associations between admission hormone levels and the main outcomes, admission and discharge FIM scores, were assessed using linear regression. Lower total and free T-levels at admission were associated with lower total FIM scores at admission (p < 0.038) and discharge (p < 0.046). Higher cortisol levels at admission were significantly associated with lower admission (p = 0.012) and discharge (p = 0.036) scores on the cognitive-FIM. Prolactin, TSH, fT4 and IGF-1 were not correlated with functional status.


CONCLUSIONS
In men, lower total and free T-levels at admission to acute rehabilitation correlate with lower admission and discharge FIM scores. These data support the need for studies to investigate the impact of physiological testosterone therapy on outcomes during and post-rehabilitation.
Carlson
N E
NE
Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO 80045, USA. nichole.carlson@ucdenver.edu
Brenner
L A
LA
Wierman
M E
ME
Harrison-Felix
C
C
Morey
C
C
Gallagher
S
S
Ripley
D
D