title: Traumatic Brain Injury-Practice Based Evidence Study: Design and Patients, Centers, Treatments, and Outcomes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe study design, patients, centers, treatments, and outcomes of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) practice-based evidence (PBE) study and to evaluate the generalizability of the findings to the U.S. TBI inpatient rehabilitation population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, longitudinal, observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten inpatient rehabilitation centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients (N=2130) enrolled between October 2008 and September 2011 and admitted for inpatient rehabilitation after an index TBI injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Not applicable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Return to acute care during rehabilitation, rehabilitation length of stay, FIM at discharge, residence at discharge, and 9 months postdischarge rehospitalization, FIM, participation, and subjective well-being.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The level of admission FIM cognitive score was found to create relatively homogeneous subgroups for the subsequent analysis of best treatment combinations. There were significant differences in patient and injury characteristics, treatments, rehabilitation course, and outcomes by admission FIM cognitive subgroups. TBI-PBE study patients were overall similar to U.S. national TBI inpatient rehabilitation populations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This TBI-PBE study succeeded in capturing naturally occurring variation in patients and treatments, offering opportunities to study best treatments for specific patient impairments. Subsequent articles in this issue report differences between patients and treatments and associations with outcomes in greater detail.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, International Severity Information Systems, Inc, Salt Lake City, UT. Electronic address: susan.horn@hsc.utah.edu.
authors.forename: Susan D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Horn
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Corrigan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bogner
authors.affiliation: Carolinas Rehabilitation, Charlotte, NC; Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN.
authors.forename: Flora M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.affiliation: Crawford Research Institute, Shepherd Center, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Ronald T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Seel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, International Severity Information Systems, Inc, Salt Lake City, UT.
authors.forename: Randall J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Smout
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, International Severity Information Systems, Inc, Salt Lake City, UT.
authors.forename: Ryan S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Marcel P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Dijkers
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Craig Hospital, Englewood, CO.
authors.forename: Gale G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Whiteneck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004522:Educational Status; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012107:Research Design; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Brain injuries; Comparative effectiveness research; Rehabilitation