Browsing by Author "Weintraub, Alan H."

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    Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidality in Individuals With Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study
    (Elsevier, 2023) Katta-Charles, Sheryl; Adams, Leah M.; Chiaravalloti, Nancy D.; Hammond, Flora M.; Perrin, Paul B.; Rabinowitz, Amanda R.; Venkatesan, Umesh M.; Weintraub, Alan H.; Bombardier, Charles H.; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine
    Objective: To examine the prevalence, severity, and correlates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) assessed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Retrospective cohort study using data collected through the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) network at 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years post TBI. Setting: United States-based TBIMS rehabilitation centers with telephone assessment of community residing participants. Participants: Adults (72.4% male; mean age, 47.2 years) who enrolled in the TBIMS National Database and completed mental health questionnaires prepandemic (January 1, 2017 to February 29, 2020; n=5000) or during pandemic (April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2021; n=2009) (N=7009). Interventions: Not applicable. Main outcome measures: Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire. Results: Separate linear and logistic regressions were constructed with demographic, psychosocial, injury-related, and functional characteristics, along with a binary indicator of COVID-19 pandemic period (prepandemic vs during pandemic), as predictors of mental health outcomes. No meaningful differences in depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation were observed before vs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Correlations between predictors and mental health outcomes were similar before and during the pandemic. Conclusions: Contrary to our predictions, the prevalence, severity, and correlates of mental health conditions were similar before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results may reflect generalized resilience and are consistent with the most recent findings from the general population that indicate only small, transient increases in psychological distress associated with the pandemic. While unworsened, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation remain prevalent and merit focused treatment and research efforts.
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    Determining the Minimally Clinically Important Difference for the Disability Rating Scale in Persons With Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury
    (Mary Ann Liebert, 2023-07-04) Hammond, Flora M.; Ketchum, Jessica M.; Patni, Vipul Vinod; Nejadnik, Bijan; Bates, Damien; Weintraub, Alan H.; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine
    The Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSE) is accepted as the primary outcome measure in registrational studies for traumatic brain injury (TBI). The Disability Rating Scale (DRS) is used to assess functional progress from initial acute injury, through rehabilitation and reintegration into the community and life. For these reasons, the DRS is an alternative measure for assessing meaningful global outcomes in chronic TBI. The objective of this study was to determine the minimally clinically important difference (MCID) for the DRS in chronic TBI, by determining the magnitude of DRS change associated with the MCID for the GOSE of 1 point. This study is a retrospective analysis of the multi-center, prospective, longitudinal, Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database of persons with outcomes at 1, 2, and 5 years and every 5 years thereafter post-injury. Spearman's correlations for dynamic and static relationships between the DRS and GOSE were significant. For the 1-point MCID for the GOSE, the dynamic MCID estimate for the DRS of a −0.68-point change was calculated as the mean DRS change associated with the difference of the GOSE score between year 1 and year 2 (score range, 3–8), using all persons in the study (n = 11,102), whereas the exploratory static MCID estimate for the DRS of −1.28 points was calculated from the slope of the best-fit line between the DRS and GOSE at year 1 follow-up (score range, 3–8; n = 13,415). The final MCID for the DRS was calculated by using the triangulation method (i.e., the arithmetic mean of the dynamic and exploratory static MCID estimates), which resulted in a −1.0-point change. The significant correlation between the DRS and GOSE has allowed for the establishment of a −1.0-point MCID for the DRS, which supports the use of the DRS as an alternative primary outcome measure for chronic TBI research studies, including clinical trials.
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    Recovery of Consciousness and Functional Outcome in Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
    (American Medical Association, 2021) Kowalski, Robert G.; Hammond, Flora M.; Weintraub, Alan H.; Nakase-Richardson, Risa; Zafonte, Ross D.; Whyte, John; Giacino, Joseph T.; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine
    Importance: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to 2.9 million visits to US emergency departments annually and frequently involves a disorder of consciousness (DOC). Early treatment, including withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies and rehabilitation, is often predicated on the assumed worse outcome of disrupted consciousness. Objective: To quantify the loss of consciousness, factors associated with recovery, and return to functional independence in a 31-year sample of patients with moderate or severe brain trauma. Design, setting, and participants: This cohort study analyzed patients with TBI who were enrolled in the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database, a prospective, multiyear, longitudinal database. Patients were survivors of moderate or severe TBI who were discharged from acute hospitalization and admitted to inpatient rehabilitation from January 4, 1989, to June 19, 2019, at 1 of 23 inpatient rehabilitation centers that participated in the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems program. Follow-up for the study was through completion of inpatient rehabilitation. Exposures: Traumatic brain injury. Main outcomes and measures: Outcome measures were Glasgow Coma Scale in the emergency department, Disability Rating Scale, posttraumatic amnesia, and Functional Independence Measure. Patient-related data included demographic characteristics, injury cause, and brain computed tomography findings. Results: The 17 470 patients with TBI analyzed in this study had a median (interquartile range [IQR]) age at injury of 39 (25-56) years and included 12 854 male individuals (74%). Of these patients, 7547 (57%) experienced initial loss of consciousness, which persisted to rehabilitation in 2058 patients (12%). Those with persisting DOC were younger; had more high-velocity injuries; had intracranial mass effect, intraventricular hemorrhage, and subcortical contusion; and had longer acute care than patients without DOC. Eighty-two percent (n = 1674) of comatose patients recovered consciousness during inpatient rehabilitation. In a multivariable analysis, the factors associated with consciousness recovery were absence of intraventricular hemorrhage (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.678; 95% CI, 0.532-0.863; P = .002) and intracranial mass effect (adjusted OR, 0.759; 95% CI, 0.595-0.968; P = .03). Functional improvement (change in total functional independence score from admission to discharge) was +43 for patients with DOC and +37 for those without DOC (P = .002), and 803 of 2013 patients with DOC (40%) became partially or fully independent. Younger age, male sex, and absence of intraventricular hemorrhage, intracranial mass effect, and subcortical contusion were associated with better functional outcome. Findings were consistent across the 3 decades of the database. Conclusions and relevance: This study found that DOC occurred initially in most patients with TBI and persisted in some patients after rehabilitation, but most patients with persisting DOC recovered consciousness during rehabilitation. This recovery trajectory may inform acute and rehabilitation treatment decisions and suggests caution is warranted in consideration of withdrawing or withholding care in patients with TBI and DOC.
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    Societal Participation of People With Traumatic Brain Injury Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A NIDILRR Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study
    (Elsevier, 2023) Venkatesan, Umesh M.; Adams, Leah M.; Rabinowitz, Amanda R.; Agtarap, Stephanie; Bombardier, Charles H.; Bushnik, Tamara; Chiaravalloti, Nancy D.; Juengst, Shannon B.; Katta-Charles, Sheryl; Perrin, Paul B.; Pinto, Shanti M.; Weintraub, Alan H.; Whiteneck, Gale G.; Hammond, Flora M.; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine
    Objective: To examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on societal participation in people with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design: Cross-sectional retrospective cohort. Setting: National TBI Model Systems centers, United States. Participants: TBI Model Systems enrollees (N=7003), ages 16 and older and 1-30 years postinjury, interviewed either prepandemic (PP) or during the pandemic (DP). The sample was primarily male (72.4%) and White (69.5%), with motor vehicle collisions as the most common cause of injury (55.1%). Interventions: Not applicable. Main outcome measure: The 3 subscales of the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective: Out and About (community involvement), Productivity, and Social Relations. Results: Out and About, but not Productivity or Social Relations, scores were appreciably lower among DP participants compared to PP participants (medium effect). Demographic and clinical characteristics showed similar patterns of association with participation domains across PP and DP. When their unique contributions were examined in regression models, age, self-identified race, education level, employment status, marital status, income level, disability severity, and life satisfaction were variably predictive of participation domains, though most effects were small or medium in size. Depression and anxiety symptom severities each showed small zero-order correlations with participation domains across PP and DP but had negligible effects in regression analyses. Conclusions: Consistent with the effect of COVID-19 on participation levels in the general population, people with TBI reported less community involvement during the pandemic, potentially compounding existing postinjury challenges to societal integration. The pandemic does not appear to have altered patterns of association between demographic/clinical characteristics and participation. Assessing and addressing barriers to community involvement should be a priority for TBI treatment providers. Longitudinal studies of TBI that consider pandemic-related effects on participation and other societally linked outcomes will help to elucidate the potential longer-term effect the pandemic has on behavioral health in this population.