Faculty Mentor

Elena Crooks

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2020

Department

Physical Therapy

Abstract

Introduction

Neurologic insults such as strokes and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) affect over 1 million Americans every year. The lack of current knowledge informing accurate prognoses causes victims and their loved ones distress, and is a focus of much research. The purpose of this study was to determine whether patient age at time of insult could predict change in functional outcomes during inpatient rehabilitation.

Methods

Subjects were patients of an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) post-stroke or TBI. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) assessed functional independence and cognitive status at admission and discharge from the IRF. The Montebello Rehabilitation Factor Score (MRFS) incorporated admission and discharge FIM scores to calculate each subject’s change in cognitive and motor functional independence. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analyses were calculated using SPSS v24.

Results

Data from twenty subjects were included in the study (66.5 ± 18.0 years; n=7 female). The overall regression model was trending towards statistical significance, where lower age predicted cognitive MRFS (F = 3.714, p = 0.070, β = -0.414, R2 = 0.171) and motor MRFS (F = 25.008, p < 0.001 , β = -0.763, R2 = 0.581) at discharge from the IRF.

Conclusions

Our findings are consistent with previous research demonstrating that neurologic insult at a younger age is correlated with better functional outcomes from that incident. Providers and therapists should use this information in educating patients and their support network about the patient’s possible prognosis.

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