Citation

Bell RB, Al-Adawi S, Burke DP. PM R 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1002/pmrj.12091

PMID

30689301

Abstract

BACKGROUND: While many studies have demonstrated that obesity is correlated with an increased risk of chronic disease, some have reported a paradox, by which those in the higher weight categories actually recover better during hospitalization. This study was designed to determine whether this obesity paradox is also reflected in the recovery of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) undergoing care in a rehabilitation hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and the functional progress of patients with TBI, admitted to a rehabilitation hospital.

DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study METHODS: The study included all patients admitted to the brain injury unit of a rehabilitation hospital over a six year period. The data used for this study included patient height and weight (measured on admission) and functional independence measurements (scored on admission and discharge). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Functional Independence measure (FIM) change per day, body mass index category.

RESULTS: For the 444 patients admitted, the overall FIM efficiency did not differ significantly by BMI (p=.93). After adjusting for age and gender, overweight and obese patients had the lowest FIM efficiency (1.04 for both groups), followed by the underweight and normal weight groups (1.11 and 1.26, respectively).

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that higher BMI were not significantly correlated with the rate of functional recovery among patients admitted to a rehabilitation hospital for TBI. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en