Differential profiles for patients with traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE To profile the demographic, clinical and environmental characteristics of persons with acquired brain injury receiving inpatient rehabilitation services in Canada. DESIGN This study utilizes data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information's National Rehabilitation Reporting System, between April 2001 and March 2006. The data were collected from publicly insured institutions providing inpatient rehabilitation across Canada. The main outcome measures examined were demographic and clinical characteristics. PARTICIPANTS Adults with brain injury by traumatic (n=2675) vs non-traumatic causes (n=2759). RESULTS Approximately half of acquired brain injury patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation had non-traumatic causes of brain injury. Traumatic brain injury patients were more likely to be younger, male, from rural areas, and to make greater gains in rehabilitation. Differences were found in the types and numbers of comorbidities. However, patients from these 2 groups had similar lengths of rehabilitation stay. CONCLUSION These findings support a differential profile of patients by brain injury aetiology. This has relevance for staff training, resource allocation and future research.