Associations between interpreter dependency and rehabilitation outcomes and care processes following acquired brain injury: a Swedish registry-based cohort study

To explore interpreter dependency in relation to rehabilitation outcomes and rehabilitation process measures for patients with acquired brain injury.

Retrospective cohort study.

Data from 13,900 inpatients, with acquired brain injury as main diagnosis, included in a Swedish quality registry (2008-2020). Of these, 391 patients were interpreter-dependent whereas 13,509 were not.

Outcomes were functional independence, health-related quality of life, self-perceived health, occurrence of complications, and length of stay. Process measures consisted of establishment of an individualized rehabilitation plan and collection of patient-reported experience measures.

On admission as well as discharge, interpreter dependency was related to lower scores regarding functional independence, health-related quality of life, and self-perceived health, while showing no association with the degree of improvement in these outcomes between the 2 time points. Interpreter-dependent patients were less likely to have had patient-reported experience measures administered. The results regarding functional independence and patient-reported experience measures persisted after adjusting for confounding variables. Length of stay, occurrence of complications, and establishment of an individualized rehabilitation plan were not related to interpreter dependency.

Disparities on admission and discharge were evident regarding functionality as well as health-related quality of life and self-perceived health. It is possible that acquired brain injury severity or disparities earlier in the care continuum may underlie the results.