Cognitive correlates with functional outcomes after anoxic brain injury: A case-controlled comparison with traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Patients with AnBI had worse functional outcomes following rehabilitation than patients with TBI, confirming the results of previous reports. Poor cognitive function predicted poor functional outcomes on the FIM and somewhat on the DRS. Research is needed to assess why these differences occur and to improve or develop new effective rehabilitation treatments for AnBI.

Factors Predicting Functional and Cognitive Recovery Following Severe Traumatic, Anoxic, and Cerebrovascular Brain Damage

“…In our study, the TBI group had a shorter RAI than the other groups. On the other hand, the literature contains reports of similar RAI between patients with TBI and patients with anoxic brain injury 31,32 and between patients with TBI and non-TBI. 2 In our view, this discrepancy may be explained by differences in the organization of rehabilitation care in different countries.…”

“…Indeed, as in our study, 2 studies reported that patients with TBI achieve greater gains than patients with anoxia. 31,32 On the other hand, Shah et al 6,30 reported that these groups have a similar daily recovery rate and that patients with anoxia tend to have a greater gain than those with TBI. The discrepancy found in the latter studies might be attributed to the small patient samples or to the different levels of severity of the patients (mild, moderate, and severe) included.…”

“…[5][6][7][30][31][32] As a whole, these studies have shown that patients who survive a TBI achieve greater functional and cognitive recovery than those with non-TBI 2, 3,9,[27][28][29]33 and that patients with anoxic brain injury have a similar rate of recovery compared with patients with TBI but have a worse outcome, as they tend to reach the upper limit of their potential more quickly than the former. 5,6,8,[30][31][32] However, many studies have not focused on severe ABI but instead included patients with a range of injury severity from mild to severe. 2,6,[30][31][32] Some studies investigating functional outcomes, prognostic factors, and discharge destination have compared persons with TBI versus non-TBI.…”

“…5,6,8,[30][31][32] However, many studies have not focused on severe ABI but instead included patients with a range of injury severity from mild to severe. 2,6,[30][31][32] Some studies investigating functional outcomes, prognostic factors, and discharge destination have compared persons with TBI versus non-TBI. 2,12,34 In our view, a main limitation of these studies is that the patients with non-TBI have a mix of etiologies such as cerebrovascular disorders, 2,12 aneurysms, 34 subarachnoid hemorrhage, 12,34 neoplasms, 34 metastases, 34 anoxia, 12,34 inflammation of the brain (encephalitis, meningitis), 2,34 vasculitis, 2 and hydrocephalus.…”

Return to Work in Mild Cognitive Disorders

“…Therefore, it is no surprise that even mild cognitive impairments due to illness or injury can also signifi cantly impact work performance when they persist over time. Previous research across patient groups and healthy individuals has identifi ed robust links between cognitive abilities and real-world functional performance (BellMcGinty et al 2002 ;Benedictus et al 2010 ;Cifu et al 1997 ;Cullen and Weisz 2011 ;Kalechstein et al 2003 ;Ross et al 1997 ;Royall et al 2005 ).…”