Ethnic disparities in long-term functional outcomes after traumatic brain injury

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OBJECTIVES: Ethnic disparities in access to acute rehabilitation and in long-term global neurologic outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) have been previously documented. The current study was undertaken to determine whether there are specific types of functional deficits that disproportionately affect ethnic minorities after TBI. METHODS: The TBI Clinical Trials Network is a National Institutes of Health-funded multicenter prospective study. Local data from trauma centers in a single ethnically diverse major metropolitan study site were analyzed. Functional outcomes were measured in 211 patients with blunt TBI (head Abbreviated Injury Scale score 3-5) who were alive >/=6 months after discharge using the Functional Status Examination (FSE), which measures outcome in 10 functional domains and compares current functional status to preinjury status. For each domain, patients were classified as functionally independent (FSE score 1, 2) or dependent upon others (FSE score 3, 4). Ethnic minorities (n = 66) were compared with non-Hispanic whites (n = 145), with p

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