title: Measures of injury severity and prediction of acute traumatic brain injury outcomes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the comparative efficacy of 3 common measures of traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity for predicting inpatient outcomes upon hospital discharge.
  
  
  METHODS
  Acute brain injury rehabilitation unit at level 1 trauma center.
  
  
  METHODS
  100 patients with TBI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of injury severity, demographic, and outcome data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at admission, time to follow commands (TTC), duration of posttraumatic amnesia (PTA), and Functional Independence Measure at hospital discharge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A hierarchal multiple regression revealed that duration of PTA was a significant and powerful unique predictor of Functional Independence Measure scores at discharge (β = -0.46, P = .001), while TTC (β = 0.26, P = .056) and GCS (β = 0.16, P = .143) were not. These effects were present even after controlling for age, gender, educational level, racial/ethnic minority status, cause of injury, history of substance abuse, and neurosurgical intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although clinicians often use GCS scores and TTC when assessing acute TBI severity and during treatment formulation, this study provides evidence that duration of PTA may be a more meaningful predictor of patients' functional levels at discharge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond (Dr Perrin); and Carolinas Rehabilitation (Drs Niemeier and Hirsch and Mss Guerrier, Pershad, Kingsbury, Bartel, and Whitney), Cannon Research Center (Drs Mougeot and Vannoy and Ms Rossman), Department of Emergency Medicine (Dr Watts), Brain Injury Unit, Carolinas Rehabilitation (Dr Grafton), and Carolinas Healthcare System (Mr Whitney), Charlotte, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.forename: Janet P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Niemeier
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Mougeot
authors.forename: Charles H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Vannoy
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Watts
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rossman
authors.forename: Lori M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Grafton
authors.forename: Tami D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Guerrier
authors.forename: Rashmi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pershad
authors.forename: Carla A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kingsbury
authors.forename: Sheri W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Bartel
authors.forename: Marybeth P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Whitney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult