Traumatic brain injury, nutritional status and outcomes: a registry based cohort study

Methods We performed a single center observational study of patients treated in medical and surgical intensive care units in Boston, Massachusetts. We studied 1,685 patients age ≥ 18 years, who received critical care following TBI between 1997 and 2011. The exposure of interest, malnutrition, was determined via a Registered Dietitian formal assessment within 48 hours of ICU admission and categorized as non-specific malnutrition, protein-energy malnutrition, at risk of malnutrition or well-nourished and determined by data related to anthropometric measurements, clinical signs of malnutrition, malnutrition risk factors, and metabolic stress. The primary outcome was all cause 90 day mortality determined by the US Social Security Death Master File. Adjusted odds ratios were estimated by multivariable logistic regression models.