Comorbid disease in persons with traumatic brain injury: Descriptive findings using the modified cumulative illness rating scale

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Study describes the overall health status and prevalence of medical comorbidities experienced by traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients 1 to 15 years after injury. Data were collected from 258 adults with TBI enrolled in the Southeastern Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury System, a part of the TBI Model Systems project. The Modified Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (MCIRS), a 14-item rating scale used to indicate health status by rating impairment across 14 different domains, was used to detect and evaluate comorbidity. Ninety-six, 65, 41, and 56 participants completed the MCIRS at 1-, 5-, 10- and 15-year follow-up periods, respectively. Overall, the TBI sample in this study had lower rates of comorbidities compared with other rehabilitation populations, including stroke and orthopedic samples. The most commonly encountered medical conditions within the sample were eyes, ears, nose, and throat problems, psychiatric or behavioral disturbances, hypertension, and musculoskeletal injury at mild to moderate severity. Prevalence of conditions did not differ by sex, race, or cause of TBI.

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