Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026
Modified Mouse Model of Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Incorporating Thinned-Skull Window and Fluid Percussion
Published on: April 19, 2024
Traumatic brain injury and functional outcomes: does minority status matter?
Juan Carlos Arango-Lasprilla1, Mitchell Rosenthal, John Deluca
1Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corporation, West Orange, NJ, USA. jcarangolasp@vcu.edu
Objectives:
(1) to determine differences between minorities vs. non-minorities on demographic, injury and rehabilitation characteristics and functional outcomes at admission, discharge and 1-year post-injury and (2) to examine differences in functional outcome at 1-year post-injury among (African-Americans, Hispanics and Whites).
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
Longitudinal data were extracted from the TBI Model Systems database.
Participants:
4929 individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI (3354 Whites vs. 1575 Minorities: 1207 African-Americans and 368 Hispanics) hospitalized between 1989-2004.
Main Outcome Measures:
Functional outcomes at 1-year post-injury (Disability Rating Scale, Functional Independence Measure, Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended and Community Integration Questionnaire).
Results:
At discharge and 1-year post-injury, minorities had poorer functional outcomes compared with Caucasians on all measures. After controlling for sociodemographic, injury and functional characteristics at admission, Hispanics and African-Americans still showed worse functional outcomes at 1-year post-injury compared with Whites on the DRS, FIM and CIQ. There were no significant differences between African Americans and Hispanics.
Conclusions:
Minorities had significantly reduced long-term functional outcome after rehabilitation relative to Whites. It is imperative that rehabilitation professionals' consider factors related to poorer long-term functional outcome and work to improve the quality of life of minorities with TBI.
