Predictors of Social Participation Outcome after Traumatic Brain Injury Differ According to Rehabilitation Pathways

Social participation (SP) is one of many objectives in the rehabilitation of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Studies on predictors of SP specific to post-acute universally accessible specialized rehabilitation pathways following TBI are scarce. Our objectives were to: 1) characterize SP, as well as a set of pre-injury, injury-related, and post-injury variables in individuals participating in inpatient-outpatient or outpatient rehabilitation pathways within a universally accessible and organized trauma continuum of care; and 2) examine the ability of pre-injury, injury-related, and post-injury variables in predicting SP outcome after TBI according to rehabilitation path. Participants (N = 372) were adults admitted to an inpatient-outpatient rehabilitation pathway or an outpatient rehabilitation pathway after sustaining a TBI between 2016 and 2020, and for whom Mayo-Portland Adaptability Intentory-4 (MPAI-4) outcomes were prospectively obtained at the start and end of rehabilitation. Additional data was collected from medical files. For both rehabilitation pathways, predicted SP outcome was MPAI-4 Participation score at discharge from outpatient rehabilitation. Multiple regression models investigated the predictive value of each variable for SP outcome, separately for each care pathway. Main findings show that for the inpatient-outpatient sample, three variables (education years, MPAI-4 Ability and Adjustment scores at rehabilitation intake) significantly predicted SP outcome, with the regression model accounting for 49% of the variance. For the outpatient sample, five variables (pre-morbid hypertension and mental health diagnosis, total indirect rehabilitation hours received, MPAI-4 Abilities and Adjustment scores at rehabilitation intake) significantly predicted SP outcome, with the regression model accounting for 47% of the variance. In conclusion, different pre-morbid and post-injury variables are involved in predicting SP, depending on the rehabilitation path followed. The predictive value of those variables could help clinicians identify patients more likely of showing poorer SP at discharge and who may require additional or different interventions.