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Browsing by Author "Watanabe, Thomas K."
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Item Aging with Traumatic Brain Injury: Deleterious Effects of Injury Chronicity Are Most Pronounced in Later Life(Mary Ann Liebert, 2021) Rabinowitz, Amanda R.; Kumar, Raj G.; Sima, Adam; Venkatesan, Umesh M.; Juengst, Shannon B.; O’Neil-Pirozzi, Therese M.; Watanabe, Thomas K.; Goldin, Yelena; Hammond, Flora M.; Dreer, Laura E.; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of MedicineUnderstanding the effects of age on longitudinal traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcomes requires attention to both chronic and evolving TBI effects and age-related changes in health and function. The present study examines the independent and interactive effects of aging and chronicity on functional outcomes after TBI. We leveraged a well-defined cohort of individuals who sustained a moderate/severe TBI and received acute inpatient rehabilitation at specialized centers with high follow up rate as part of their involvement in the TBI Model Systems longitudinal study. We selected individuals at one of two levels of TBI chronicity (either 2 or 10 years post-injury) and used an exact matching procedure to obtain balanced chronicity groups based on age and other characteristics (N = 1993). We found that both older age and greater injury chronicity were related to greater disability, reduced functional independence, and less community participation. There was a significant age by chronicity interaction, indicating that the adverse effects of greater time post-injury were most pronounced among survivors who were age 75 or older. The inflection point at roughly 75 years of age was corroborated by post hoc analyses, dividing the sample by age at 75 years and examining the interaction between age group and chronicity. These findings point to a need for provision of rehabilitation services in the chronic injury period, particularly for those who are over 75 years old. Future work should investigate the underlying mechanisms of this interaction towards the goal of developing interventions and models of care to promote healthy aging with TBI.Item Improving Transition from Inpatient Rehabilitation following Traumatic Brain Injury: Protocol for the BRITE Pragmatic Comparative Effectiveness Trial(Elsevier, 2021-05) Fann, Jesse R.; Hart, Tessa; Ciol, Marcia A.; Moore, Megan; Bogner, Jennifer; Corrigan, John D.; Dams-O'Connor, Kristen; Driver, Simon; Dubiel, Rosemary; Hammond, Flora M.; Kajankova, Maria; Watanabe, Thomas K.; Hoffman, Jeanne M.; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of MedicineModerate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of long-term disability. Due to challenges that include inconsistent access to follow-up care, persons with TBI being discharged from inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) are at risk for rehospitalization, poor reintegration into the community, family stress, and other unfavorable outcomes resulting from unmet needs. In a six-center randomized pragmatic comparative effectiveness study, the BRITE trial (Brain Injury Rehabilitation: Improving the Transition Experience, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03422276), we compare the effectiveness of two existing methods for transition from IRF to community living or long-term nursing care. The Rehabilitation Discharge Plan (RDP) includes patient/family education and referrals for continued care. The Rehabilitation Transition Plan (RTP) provides RDP plus individualized, manualized care management via phone or videoconference, for 6 months. Nine hundred patients will be randomized (1:1) to RDP or RTP, with caregivers also invited to participate and contribute caregiver-reported outcomes. Extensive stakeholder input, including active participation of persons with TBI and their families, has informed all aspects of trial design and implementation planning. We hypothesize that RTP will result in better patient- and caregiver-reported outcomes (societal participation, quality of life, caregiver well-being) and more efficient use of healthcare resources at 6-months (primary outcome) and 12-months post-discharge, compared to RDP alone. Planned analyses will explore which participants benefit most from each transition model. With few exclusion criteria and other pragmatic features, the findings of this trial are expected to have a broad impact on improving transitions from inpatient TBI rehabilitation.