Effect of urbanicity of residence on TBI outcome at one year post-injury

Objective: To determine the impact of urbanicity of residence and occurrence of medical complications on outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Study design: A consecutive series of persons admitted for inpatient TBI rehabilitation followed for 1 year post-injury. Setting: Inpatient brain injury rehabilitation programme in the southeastern US. Participants: One hundred and eleven persons with severe (67%), moderate (18%) or mild (15%) TBI. Outcome measure: Functional status at 2 year post-injury as measured by the Disability Rating Scale (DRS). Results: Functional status at follow-up was predicted by age, DRS at admission for rehabilitation, injury severity, alcohol use, continued need for medications and medical complications (validated R-2 = 0.57; p < 0.0001). Urbanicity of residence was not predictive of functional status. Conclusions: As expected, participants who experienced more medical complications and required continued use of medications had poorer functional outcomes. Contrary to expectation, more rural residents did not have poorer outcomes than persons residing in more urban areas.