Session Information
Session Title: AA 2021 Virtual Posters - Neurological Rehabilitation
Session Time: None. Available on demand.
Disclosures: Arline Edmond, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: The literature regarding the rate and reasons for emergent rehospitalization (ERH) in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) from inpatient rehabilitation is sparse. The objective of this study was to examine the factors associated with ERH in patients with DOC.
Design: Retrospective chart reviewSetting : Inpatient rehabilitation hospitalParticipants : 89 rehabilitation patients, ages 18-70, with acquired traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury identified by the rehabilitation team at admission as having a DOC; 66 patients were in a Vegetative State/Unconscious Wakefulness Syndrome (VS/UWS) and 23 were in a Minimally Conscious State (MCS).
Interventions: Not applicable
Main Outcome Measures: ERH was operationally defined as one or more non-planned transfers to an acute care hospital. Reasons for ERH were extracted from the medical record and coded into one or more categories.
Results: 50.5% of the sample had at least one ERH. Across a total of 66 ERHs in this sample, the most common reasons were infection (45.5%), respiratory (36.4%), and neurological (30.3%) complications arising during rehabilitation (not mutually exclusive). Controlling for age and number of comorbidities, the odds of rehospitalization were 3.4 times greater for those admitted in a VS/UWS compared to those in a MCS (OR=3.4, 95%, CI 1.2, 10.1, p=0.025).Conclusions: Our research suggests that ERH in rehabilitation patients with both traumatic and non-traumatic DOC were most frequently associated with infectious, respiratory, and/or neurological complications. Individuals admitted to rehabilitation in a VS/UWS may have an increased likelihood of rehospitalization compared with MCS. While additional analysis suggested that patients who were not rehospitalized were more likely to improve in level of consciousness, further studies with larger samples are needed to determine whether rehospitalization negatively impacts clinical improvement beyond VS/UWS status.
Level of Evidence: Level IV
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Edmond A, Hartsgrove C, Jasey N, Lequerica AH, Ward I. Understanding Emergent Rehospitalization of Patients with Disorders of Consciousness during Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation [abstract]. PM R. 2021; 13(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/understanding-emergent-rehospitalization-of-patients-with-disorders-of-consciousness-during-acute-inpatient-rehabilitation/. Accessed May 21, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2021
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/understanding-emergent-rehospitalization-of-patients-with-disorders-of-consciousness-during-acute-inpatient-rehabilitation/