Poster 14: Use of Modality Specific Measures for Predicting Outcomes 1 Year After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Objective: To examine average auditory, visual, and tactile measures for association with and predictive significance with functional outcomes 1 year postinjury. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation. Participants: 66 participants unconscious for 28 or more days after severe brain injury. Interventions: Weekly neurobehavioral evaluations using the Disorders of Consciousness Scale (DOCS) and biweekly consciousness screenings until inpatient rehabilitation discharge. After discharge, monthly follow-up and 12-month outcomes interview. Main Outcome Measures: Functional outcomes 1 year postinjury include time out of bed, physical assistance required, communication and cognitive assistance, social contact, and recovery of consciousness. Results: A comparison of 11 logistic regression models, controlling for comorbidities, indicate that the average DOCS auditory measure significantly contributes to the prediction of level of cognitive (P=.02) and communication assistance (P=.023) needed at 1 year. A trend toward significance in predicting recovery of consciousness with the visual (P=.076) and auditory (P=.082) measures and a trend toward significance predicting amount of social contact (P=.066) with the auditory score are also noteworthy. Conclusions: Caregivers and clinicians can use prognostic information to guide treatment planning, determine resources, and support disability adjustment.