Early predictors of long-term participation in patients with severe acquired traumatic injury discharged from Intensive Rehabilitation Unit.

Single centre, retrospective, small sample of survivors, so associations may not apply elsewhere. Many admitted patients died, were lost or refused; the analysed survivors were younger and less severely affected than those excluded, so the sample may not represent all severe TBI patients. Follow-up used a short telephone questionnaire and did not assess independence in daily living. The study did not include imaging details or rehabilitation received after IRU discharge, which may affect participation. The predictive models had low accuracy, so the variables tested did not explain much of the outcome.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding was from the Italian Ministry of Health.

Do not conclude that older patients should receive less intensive rehabilitation or that age alone fixes their participation outcome. This was a small retrospective observational study of survivors, and older, more severely affected patients were more likely to be excluded, so the age association does not prove cause or predict individual outcomes.