Establishing a prognosis for functional outcome during coma recovery

Primary objective: One of the most challenging tasks for clinicians caring for survivors of severe brain injury (BI) is establishing a prognosis, for long-term functional outcome, while the patient is unconscious. The objective of this article is to report findings regarding the prediction of functional outcomes 1-year after severe BI using data available when the patient is unconscious.Research design: Longitudinal prognostication study.Methods and procedures: Persons unconscious after severe BI who present to inpatient (IP) rehabilitation hospitals in the Midwestern US are enrolled in an ongoing study. Each subject is followed for 1-year and the final outcome interview includes ∼70 questions; 32 of these questions are from the Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART). A sample of 63 persons was abstracted from the study database to examine the predictability of 42 independent variables and 16 dichotomous outcomes.Main outcomes and results: Twelve of the 16 dichotomous outcomes were foun...