Research Objectives: Outpatient rehabilitation is a critical piece of the traumatic brain injury (TBI) care continuum to optimize physical or cognitive recovery gains after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to investigate post-inpatient discharge awareness of, attitude toward, and attendance in outpatient rehabilitation. Design: Utilized data collected through TBI Model Systems (TBIMS) Form I & II interviews and additional interview at first year post-injury follow up. Setting: A large, public, urban hospital. Participants: Respondents with TBI (Mage = 48.8, SD = 18.2) were primarily male (82%), White (44%) or Hispanic (22%), single (46%), and with a college education (53%). Interventions: Not Applicable Main Outcome Measure(s): Post-discharge care interview, psychosocial and functional variables from TBIMS Form I (pre-injury, medical record abstraction) and Form II (year one follow-up). Results: Analyses were carried out on the 34 patients who were discharged to a private residence. Out of these respondents, 36.4% did not return for their outpatient follow-up appointments. Figures and tables with descriptive statistics regarding patient attitudes toward and attendance in follow-up care at 1 year post-injury will be presented across demographic and psychosocial variables (age, race, social support), functional outcomes (Functional Independence Measure [FIM], length of stay (LOS), and patient attitudes toward participating in followup care. Conclusions: These results provide insight into the risk factors, circumstances, and beliefs that hinder patient attendance in recommended outpatient follow-up. Implications for clinical care include early identification of these patients (i.e., age, level of social support) to ensure adequate education about the importance of continued therapy in order to improve long-term outcomes.
CITATION STYLE
Smith, M., Long, C., & Bushnik, T. (2016). Supporting Factors for Follow-up Care in TBI Patients Post-inpatient Discharge. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 97(10), e72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2016.08.219
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