Citation

Arango-Lasprilla JC, Rosenthal M, Deluca J, Komaroff E, Sherer M, Cifu D, Hanks R. Brain Inj. 2007; 21(7): 701-708.

Affiliation

Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corporation, West Orange, NJ, USA. jcarangolasp@vcu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02699050701481597

PMID

17653944

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: (1) to determine differences between minorities vs. non-minorities on demographic, injury and rehabilitation characteristics and functional outcomes at admission, discharge and 1-year post-injury and (2) to examine differences in functional outcome at 1-year post-injury among (African-Americans, Hispanics and Whites). DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Longitudinal data were extracted from the TBI Model Systems database. PARTICIPANTS: 4929 individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI (3354 Whites vs. 1575 Minorities: 1207 African-Americans and 368 Hispanics) hospitalized between 1989-2004. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Functional outcomes at 1-year post-injury (Disability Rating Scale, Functional Independence Measure, Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended and Community Integration Questionnaire). RESULTS: At discharge and 1-year post-injury, minorities had poorer functional outcomes compared with Caucasians on all measures. After controlling for sociodemographic, injury and functional characteristics at admission, Hispanics and African-Americans still showed worse functional outcomes at 1-year post-injury compared with Whites on the DRS, FIM and CIQ. There were no significant differences between African Americans and Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS: Minorities had significantly reduced long-term functional outcome after rehabilitation relative to Whites. It is imperative that rehabilitation professionals' consider factors related to poorer long-term functional outcome and work to improve the quality of life of minorities with TBI.

Language: en