Jornal Internacional de Medicina Física e Reabilitação
Acesso livre

Abstrato

What are the factors influencing referral to rehabilitation services for children and adolescents with a moderate to severe acquired brain injury

Molly Clark

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the pediatric population are significant and have variable effects on domains such as cognition and behavior. Early rehabilitation is associated with significant improvements in both pediatric and adult populations. Due to unclear clinical guidelines, there are often missed/delayed referrals to rehabilitation which means a missed opportunity to engage the patient at an earlier stage. This study looked at children between the ages of 0-18 at the time of injury, who were admitted at Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) for a new TBI. Results were purely descriptive and were to assess variables between referred and non-referred patients. Forty one patients were found to have no referrals to inpatient rehabilitation and thirty five patients had referrals. The results also showed that of those that were referred, all but two had a referral on record. There were also inconsistencies in those that were referred in terms of severity and mechanism of injury. The results showed that there are inconsistencies in referral with more than 50% of patients that were eligible leaving without referral. It is evident that there needs to be further research into the specific causes of these delays in order to allow earlier engagement of these TBI children.