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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Assessment and Communication for People with Disorders of Consciousness
Published on: August 1, 2017
Temporal Profile of Recovery of Communication in Patients With Disorders of Consciousness After Severe Brain Injury
Géraldine Martens1, Yelena Bodien2, Amber Thomas3
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Coma Science Group, GIGA Research, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; Centre du Cerveau(2), Centre intégré pluridisciplinaire de l'étude du cerveau, de la cognition et de la conscience, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Objective:
Characterize the temporal profile of recovery of communication after severe brain injury.
Design:
Retrospective cohort study.
Setting:
Inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
Participants:
Patients with severe acquired brain injury and no evidence of communication on the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) (N=175).
Main Outcome Measures:
Time from injury to recovery of intentional communication (IC, inconsistent yes/no responses) and functional communication (FC, consistent and accurate yes/no responses) on the CRS-R Communication subscale.
Results:
Patients (N=175) were included in the primary observation period of the first 8 weeks of inpatient rehabilitation (median [interquartile range, IQR]: 48 [27-61] years old, 105 men, 28 [21-38] days postinjury, 100 traumatic etiology). Fifty-four patients (31%) did not recover IC or FC. Thirty patients (17%) recovered IC only (median [IQR] days from injury to IC= 40 [34-54]), 72 patients (41%) recovered IC followed by FC (days from injury to FC=50 [42-61]), and 19 patients (11%) recovered FC without first recovering IC (43 [32-63]). The patients who recovered neither IC nor FC within 8 weeks of admission were admitted to rehabilitation later than those who recovered IC and/or FC (P<.01). Sixteen patients who did not recover communication within 8 weeks of admission to rehabilitation subsequently recovered FC prior to discharge.
Conclusions:
In patients with severe brain injury receiving inpatient rehabilitation, discernible yes-no responses emerged approximately 6 weeks postinjury and became reliable 1 week later. Approximately 1 in 3 patients did not demonstrate IC or FC within 8 weeks of admission to rehabilitation, although 33% of these individuals recovered communication prior to discharge. In total, 61% of patients recovered FC prior to discharge from rehabilitation.
