Post-traumatic amnesia and its relationship to the functional outcome of people with severe traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between Post-Traumatic Amnesia (PTA) duration, length of stay and functional outcomes in Australian in-patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).


METHODS
Retrospective, descriptive study using prospectively collected data from the Uniform Data Set for Medical Rehabilitation (UDSMR).


METHODS
Prospective collection of Westmead PTA scores and analysis of database for admissions for primary TBI rehabilitation from 1993-2003. Functional Independence Measure (FIM) was used to measure functional outcome. Statistical analysis using SPSS Version 13.


RESULTS
Six hundred and thirty-eight consecutive admissions; 611 patients had PTA classified by ranges, 436 of whom had an exact number of PTA days. Mean age 37.6 years; more than 90% had a PTA duration greater than 1 week. Significant predictors of discharge FIM scores and total length of hospitalization were PTA duration, admission FIM scores and acute length of hospitalization.


CONCLUSIONS
PTA duration correlates with length of hospitalization and discharge function. PTA duration affects recovery rate. Implications include use of PTA duration for prognosticating, discharge planning and funding systems.
Kosch
Y
Y
Brain Injury Unit, Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney, Ryde, NSW, Australia. yvette.kosch@sswahs.nsw.gov.au
Browne
S
S
King
C
C
Fitzgerald
J
J
Cameron
I
I
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors