The impact of continued inpatient therapies on functional recovery and community discharge in patients with acquired brain injury.
Esha Patel, Aditya Dharani, Simon Gelman and 2 others
PMID 42063809WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with acquired brain injury continuing rehabilitation at a skilled nursing facility after inpatient rehab showed significant functional gains in mobility, daily activities, and cognition.
Eighty-eight percent were discharged to the community. Higher admission mobility scores and an ischemic stroke diagnosis predicted community discharge.
Key findings
01Patients demonstrated substantial improvement in all three functional domains (Basic Mobility, Daily Activity, Applied Cognitive) from admission to discharge at the skilled nursing facility.
02Eighty-eight percent of the 218 patients were discharged to the community, while 12% went to long-term care facilities.
03A diagnosis of ischemic stroke and higher admission Basic Mobility scores were significant predictors of community discharge.
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
This was a single-site retrospective study at a specialized brain injury unit with a dedicated physiatrist and trained therapists, so results may not generalize to standard skilled nursing facilities. The study did not measure the actual amount of therapy received or its impact on outcomes, only that patients received a minimum of two hours daily. There were missing AM-PAC scores for some early patients, and data on prior acute or inpatient rehabilitation length of stay was unavailable. Unmeasured confounders such as behavioral disturbances, home environment, and family support were not accounted for. The sample was heterogeneous, including various brain injury etiologies, which may limit statistical power for specific subgroups.
Declared interests
The authors declared that no financial support was received for this work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that the high rate of community discharge (88%) is due to the skilled nursing facility setting alone. This was a specialized unit with dedicated neurologic therapy and physician oversight, and the study did not compare these outcomes to standard skilled nursing care or account for the severity of the brain injury at the start of the SNF stay.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →