Predictors of Acute Transfer and Mortality Within 6 Months From Admission to an Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility for Patients With Brain Tumors.
Sasha E Knowlton, Alexandra I Gundersen, Julia M Reilly and 3 others
PMID 34762854WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with brain tumors admitted to rehab had a 20.2% acute transfer rate and 36.9% six-month mortality.
Prior chemotherapy, steroid use, and recurrent disease were linked to these outcomes. Functional status on admission did not predict transfer or death.
Key findings
01Transfer to acute care was significantly associated with prior chemotherapy and active steroid use, but not with admission functional scores.
02Mortality within six months was significantly associated with recurrent disease, prior chemotherapy, neurosurgery, and steroid use.
03Admission functional independence scores did not significantly predict either acute transfer or six-month mortality.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Retrospective chart review design means some data (like survival status or biomarker results) were missing for some patients. The study was conducted at a single facility with close ties to academic acute hospitals, so results may not generalize to other rehabilitation settings. Unmeasured comorbidities such as cardiac or pulmonary disease could have influenced transfer and mortality rates. The study did not compare outcomes for patients who received inpatient rehabilitation versus those who did not, so it cannot determine if rehabilitation itself affected survival.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that low functional independence scores on admission predict poor outcomes or should exclude patients from rehabilitation. The study found no significant association between admission FIM scores and either acute transfer or six-month mortality, indicating that medical and tumor-specific factors were the primary drivers of these risks.