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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
Detecting Behavioral Deficits in Rats After Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: January 30, 2018
Ethnic differences in rehabilitation placement and outcome after TBI
Carlos Marquez de la Plata1, Margaret Hewlitt, Ana de Oliveira
1Department of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. carlos.marquezdelaplata@utsouthwestern.edu
Objective:
To determine whether race/ethnicity and proficiency with the English language influence access to rehabilitation services, and ultimately outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Design:
A retrospective correlational investigation.
Setting And Participants:
Postrehabilitation outpatients with blunt TBI. A total of 476 patients were examined 6 months postinjury, of which 109 (23%) were Hispanics, and of those 42 were predominantly Spanish speaking.
Main Outcome Measures:
Access to rehabilitation services, Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended.
Results:
Insurance, age, and injury severity had the greatest influence on receipt of rehabilitation services; however, higher rates of severe disability were found among Hispanics and Spanish speakers than non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic English speakers, respectively.
Conclusions:
Insurance status has a larger influence on receipt of rehabilitation services than ethnicity or proficiency with the English language, but language proficiency is a significant predictor of severe disability.
