Improvement of quality of life (QOL) between 1 and 3-4 years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in ICU patients

Survivorship After Neurocritical Care: A Scoping Review of Outcomes Beyond Physical Status

Following intensive care unit hospitalization, survivors of acute neurological injury often experience debilitating short-term and long-term impairments. Although the physical/motor impairments experienced by survivors of acute neurological injury have been described extensively, fewer studies have examined cognitive, mental health, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and employment outcomes. This scoping review describes the publication landscape beyond physical and/or motor sequelae in neurocritical care survivors. Databases were searched for terms related to critical illness, intensive care, and outcomes from January 1970 to March 2022. English-language studies of critically ill adults with a primary neurological diagnosis were included if they reported on at least one outcome of interest: cognition, mental health, HRQoL or employment. Data extraction was performed in duplicate for prespecified variables related to study outcomes. Of 16,036 abstracts screened, 74 citations were identified for inclusion. The studies encompassed seven worldwide regions and eight neurocritical diagnosis categories. Publications reporting outcomes of interest increased from 3 before the year 2000 to 71 after. Follow-up time points included ≤ 1 (n = 15 [20%] citations), 3 (n = 28 [38%]), 6 (n = 28 [38%]), and 12 (n = 21 [28%]) months and 1 to 5 (n = 19 [26%]) and > 5 years (n = 8 [11%]), with 28 (38%) citations evaluating outcomes at multiple time points. Sixty-six assessment tools were used to evaluate the four outcomes of interest: 22 evaluating HRQoL (56 [76%] citations), 21 evaluating cognition (20 [27%] citations), 21 evaluating mental health (18 [24%] citations), and 2 evaluating employment (9 [12%] citations). This scoping review aimed to better understand the literature landscape regarding nonphysical outcomes in survivors of neurocritical care. Although a rising number of publications highlight growing awareness, future efforts are needed to improve study consistency and comparability and characterize outcomes in a disease-specific manner, including outlining of a minimum core outcomes set and associated assessment tools.

An externally validated prognostic model for critically ill patients with traumatic brain injury

OBJECTIVE

Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who are admitted to the intensive care unit often exhibit critical conditions; thus, early prediction of in-hospital mortality is crucial. In this study, we aimed to develop a reliable and easily promotable model for predicting the in-hospital mortality of critically ill patients with TBI using easily accessible indicators and validate the model using external data.

METHODS

Patient data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV 2.2 database were used as training and internal validation sets to establish and internally validate the prognostic model. Data from the Affiliated Dongyang Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University were used for external validation. The Boruta algorithm was used for the initial feature selection, followed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses to identify the final independent predictors. The predictive performance was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve, clinical practicality decision curve analysis, and clinical impact curve.

RESULTS

This study included 3225 patients (training set: 2042; internal validation set: 874; and external validation set: 309). Ten variables were selected for inclusion in the nomogram model: age, mechanical ventilation usage, vasoactive agent usage, intracerebral hemorrhage, temperature, respiration rate, white blood cell count, platelet count, red blood cell distribution width, and glucose. The nomogram demonstrated good predictive performance in both the internal and external validation sets.

INTERPRETATION

We developed an externally validated nomogram that exhibited good discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility for predicting in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with TBI.

Effectiveness of exercise in improving quality of life in patients with traumatic brain injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability and mortality worldwide. People with TBI exhibit poor quality of life (QOL). Exercise is considered a possible intervention for improving cognitive function and mood, helping improve QOL in patients with TBI. According to our review of the relevant literature, meta-analyses have yet to explore the effect of exercise on QOL in patients with TBI.

OBJECTIVES

To determine by meta-analysis of relevant studies whether physical exercise could promote QOL in patients with TBI.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studies involving physical exercise for improving QOL outcomes in TBI populations were conducted according to the PRISMA guideline. Our inclusion criteria were as follows: being randomized or nonrandomized controlled trials with quantitative designs that included patients diagnosed with TBI.

RESULTS

Thus, six studies met the inclusion criteria. The interventions in four of the six studies had statistically significant effects on QOL improvement. Our meta-analysis revealed a moderate effect size of physical exercise on QOL promotion in patients with TBI.

CONCLUSION

For TBI, exercise seems to improve QOL. More research with long-term follow-up should be conducted to assess the effect of exercise on patients with TBI.