title: Time to follow commands remains the most useful injury severity variable for predicting WeeFIM® scores 1 year after paediatric TBI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between injury severity variables, particularly time to follow commands (TFC) and long-term functional outcomes in paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 40 children with moderate-to-severe TBI discharged from inpatient rehabilitation. Measures of severity were initial Glasgow Coma Scale score, TFC, duration of Post Traumatic Amnesia (PTA) and total duration of impaired consciousness (TFC + PTA). Functional outcome was measured by age-corrected Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM®) scores at 1-year after discharge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Correlations indicated that injury severity variables (TFC, PTA and TFC + PTA) were all associated with functional outcome. Regression analyses revealed that TFC and TFC + PTA similarly accounted for 49% or 47% of the variance, respectively, in total WeeFIM® score. Thirty-seven of 40 children had good outcome; of the three children with TFC >26 days, two had poor outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PTA and TFC + PTA do not provide a benefit over TFC alone for prediction of long-term outcome and TFC is identified earlier in the recovery course. TFC remains an important predictor of functional outcome 1-year after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation after paediatric TBI.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Rehabilitation, Kennedy Krieger Institute, 707 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205 USA.
authors.forename: Cynthia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Beth S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Slomine
authors.forename: Ellen J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Dematt
authors.forename: Cynthia F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Salorio
authors.forename: Stacy J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Suskauer
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology