Biomedical subjects

Allen W Heinemann

Publications and source records attributed to Allen W Heinemann.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Poststroke rehabilitation: outcomes and reimbursement of inpatient rehabilitation facilities and subacute rehabilitation programs.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To assess whether poststroke rehabilitation outcomes and reimbursement for Medicare beneficiaries differ across inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) and skilled nursing facility (SNF) subacute rehabilitation programs. METHODS: Clinical data were linked with Medicare claims for 58,724 Medicare beneficiaries with a recent stroke who completed treatment in 1996 or 1997 in IRFs and subacute rehabilitation SNFs that subscribed to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. Outcome measures were discharge destination, discharge FIM ratings and Medicare Part A reimbursement during the institutional stay. RESULTS: IRF patients that were more likely to have a community-based discharge, compared with rehabilitation SNF patients, were patients with mild motor disabilities and FIM cognitive ratings of 23 or greater (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.19; 95% CI: 1.52 to 3.14), patients with moderate motor disabilities (AOR=1.98; 95% CI: 1.49 to 2.61), patients with significant motor disabilities (AOR=1.26; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.57) and patients younger than 82 with severe motor disabilities (AOR=1.43; 95% CI: 1.25 to 1.64). IRF patients with significant and severe motor disabilities achieved greater motor function of 2 or more FIM units compared with rehabilitation SNF patients. Medicare Part A payments for IRFs were higher than rehabilitation SNF payments across all subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: For most patients, poststroke rehabilitation in the more costly and intensive IRFs resulted in higher functional outcomes compared with care in a SNF-based rehabilitation program. IRF and SNF outcomes were similar for patients with minimal motor disabilities and patients with mild motor disabilities and significant cognitive disabilities. Cost-effectiveness analyses require considering the costs of the full episode of care.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

ACRM's evolving mission: opportunities to promote rehabilitation research.

This presidential address reflects on the history and mission of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) and considers the benefits derived from joint ownership of Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R). Much of ACRM's history has been distinguished by collaboration with AAPM&R on essential concerns. Evolving organizational priorities have resulted in distinct association missions that have consequences for joint ownership of Archives. The journal has grown in important ways in the past 86 years from a solo editor to an editorial board and to joint ownership and sponsorship of alternating issues. The quality of Archives has improved substantially in the past decade, with an improving impact factor and an increasing number of manuscript submissions. A new contract with the publisher provides an opportunity to consider the relationship between the Congress and Archives and what kind of benefit ACRM desires it to be for its members, to the larger community of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), and to the persons with disabilities we as PM&R professionals seek to serve. Archives is well positioned to fulfill ACRM's focus on promoting rehabilitation research and facilitating information dissemination and technology transfer. An internationally respected journal is an excellent means to disseminate rehabilitation research that promotes health, independence, productivity, and quality of life for people with disabling conditions. This new chapter in the relationship between Archives and the Academy and Congress provides several opportunities for rehabilitation research leadership. More than ever, Archives provides a premier mechanism to fulfill the Congress's mission and to promote our sense of community.

Biomedical Research↗

PubMed2006

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 approximately 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 found to be significantly predictable (p < 0.05). These involve activity, participation, environment and quality of life outcomes. Ten predictors were found to be significant (p < 0.05): aetiology (Closed Head Injury vs. Other BI), presence of urinary tract infection (UTI), seizure, hypertension during IP rehabilitation, veteran benefit eligibility, health insurance, marital status at injury, whether or not recovery of consciousness occurred within 1 year, the number of days between injury and admission to acute rehabilitation and the average length of IP rehabilitation stay. Eight of the 10 variables are available early after injury or when the patient is unconscious.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

Expansion of a physical function item bank and development of an abbreviated form for clinical research.

We expanded an existing 33-item physical function (PF) item bank with a sufficient number of items to enable computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Ten items were written to expand the bank and the new item pool was administered to 295 people with cancer. For this analysis of the new pool, seven poorly performing items were identified for further examination. This resulted in a bank with items that define an essentially unidimensional PF construct, cover a wide range of that construct, reliably measure the PF of persons with cancer, and distinguish differences in self-reported functional performance levels. We also developed a 5-item (static) assessment form ("BriefPF") that can be used in clinical research to express scores on the same metric as the overall bank. The BriefPF was compared to the PF-10 from the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36. Both short forms significantly differentiated persons across functional performance levels. While the entire bank was more precise across the PF continuum than either short form, there were differences in the area of the continuum in which each short form was more precise: the BriefPF was more precise than the PF-10 at the lower functional levels and the PF-10 was more precise than the BriefPF at the higher levels. Future research on this bank will include the development of a CAT version, the PF-CAT.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

Increasing substance abuse treatment compliance for persons with traumatic brain injury.

This study compared 3 methods of increasing participation in substance abuse treatment for clients with traumatic brain injury. Participants (N = 195) were randomly assigned to 4 conditions: (a) motivational interview, (b) reduction of logistical barriers to attendance, (c) financial incentive, and (d) attention control. Four interviewers conducted structured, brief telephone interventions targeting the timeliness of signing an individualized service plan. Participants assigned to the barrier reduction (74%) and financial incentive (83%) groups were more likely to sign within 30 days compared with the motivational interview (45%) and attention control (45%) groups. Similar results were observed for time to signing, perfect attendance at appointments, and premature termination during the following 6 months. Extent of psychiatric symptoms was the only significant covariate.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Outcomes and reimbursement of inpatient rehabilitation facilities and subacute rehabilitation programs for Medicare beneficiaries with hip fracture.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess whether outcomes and reimbursement differ for Medicare beneficiaries with hip fracture when treated in an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) compared with a skilled nursing facility (SNF) subacute rehabilitation program. PARTICIPANTS: Clinical data were linked with Medicare claims for 29,793 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with a recent hip fracture who completed treatment in 1996 or 1997 in rehabilitation facilities that subscribed to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. OUTCOME MEASURES: We measured discharge destination, change in motor FIM rating, and Medicare Part A reimbursement. RESULTS: For patients with moderate-to-severe and severe disabilities, case mix groups (CMGs) 704 and 705, the percentage of patients discharged to the community from IRFs was lower than for patients treated in subacute rehabilitation SNFs, after controlling for covariates. Adjusted odds ratios were 0.71 (95% confidence interval 0.55-0.92) for CMG 704 and 0.72 (95% confidence interval 0.63-0.83) for CMG 705. For patients in the 3 other CMGs, no significant differences were detected. Improvement in motor functional status was roughly equivalent for patients treated in IRFs and those treated in the subacute rehabilitation programs across all 5 CMGs, after controlling for covariates. Medicare Part A payments for IRFs were significantly higher than SNF payments across all CMGs. CONCLUSION: SNF-based subacute rehabilitation was less costly and outcomes were in most, but not all, instances similar or better than IRF-based rehabilitation for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who had a recent hip fracture.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Psychometric properties and developmental differences in children's ADL item hierarchy: a study of the WeeFIM instrument.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the measurement properties of the WeeFIM instrument and examine the developmental differences in motor item difficulty in a pediatric inpatient rehabilitation sample. DESIGN: Database approach, retrospective study, using 814 WeeFIM records from 12 facilities. Rasch rating scale analysis was used for all analyses. Data for the complete sample were used to evaluate the dimensionality and item fit of the WeeFIM instrument. Patients were then divided into three age groups, <3 yrs of age (toddlers), 3-7 yrs of age (preschoolers and kindergartners), and >7 yrs of age (school-age children), and their data were used to compare the order of motor items by level of difficulty within and across different age groups. RESULTS: Principal component analysis of the WeeFIM suggests distinct motor and cognitive scales. Within the motor scale, bowel and bladder items misfit, suggesting they measure a distinct aspect of function. The order of motor item difficulty, an indicator of construct validity, varies across age groups, suggesting that motor tasks present different challenges to children at different developmental stages: toileting is the most difficult, whereas locomotion is the easiest motor item for toddlers. For children >3 yrs of age, eating is easiest and stair climbing is most difficult, followed by tub transfer and bathing. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to the adult FIMtrade mark instrument, the WeeFIM instrument has two distinct dimensions. The motor items form a unidimensional construct with acceptable measurement properties. Developmental differences in motor task mastery among children with disabilities are assumed but rarely tested. As evidenced by the age-specific item hierarchies found in this study, developmental differences among children with disabilities mimic that of children without disabilities.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

Metrics of rehabilitation research capacity.

This article describes approaches to assessing rehabilitation research capacity and measuring capacity growth within the context of basic science, clinical research, health services research, and engineering and technology development. Related metrics are also described, including the selectiveness of research training programs, ways of measuring research productivity, the impact on education, clinical practice and policy, increasing and tracking retention, and measurement requirements.

Education, Medical, Graduate↗

PubMed2004

Relative importance of rehabilitation therapy characteristics on functional outcomes for persons with stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative importance of therapy focus, intensity, and length of stay on greater than expected functional gain, controlling for stroke severity. METHODS: This observational study included 198 first-stroke patients who were recruited from 8 in-patient rehabilitation facilities and 5 subacute programs. Stroke severity (motor, sensory and cognitive impairment) at admission was measured using an instrument combining all 3 aspects; self-care, mobility, and cognitive status at admission and discharge were measured with the Functional Independence Measure. Time spent by physical, occupational, and speech-language therapists on function- and impairment-focused activities were used to compute therapy intensity by discipline and type of activity. Residual change scores, estimated by regressing discharge on admission functional status, were modeled using patient and therapy characteristics. RESULTS: Controlling for the stroke severity, greater than expected gains in self-care were predicted by longer lengths of stay and more intensive function-focused occupational therapy, and greater than expected cognitive gains were predicted by longer stays alone. Predictors of residual change in mobility, however, differed by gender: greater than expected gains in mobility for men were predicted by longer lengths of stay and more intense function-focused physical therapy whereas, for women, they were predicted by stroke severity alone. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike previous studies using raw functional gains, therapies accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in residual functional change. The results support studies suggesting that both content and amount of therapy are important aspects.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2004

Patterns of therapy activities across length of stay and impairment levels: peering inside the "black box" of inpatient stroke rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES: To classify therapy activities and to describe the type and pattern of activities provided during inpatient rehabilitation to persons with stroke. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: Eight acute and 5 subacute rehabilitation facilities across the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Persons with stroke (N=177) who received rehabilitation services and had lengths of stay (LOSs) between 2 and 5 weeks. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Weekly and total therapy units aggregated by discipline and activity type for each of 4 (2-wk, 3-wk, 4-wk, 5-wk) LOS groups. RESULTS: Across LOS groups, significant differences in total therapy units were found by week of rehabilitation, discipline, and therapy activity type. Patterns in and significant interactions of time and activity type by discipline were also found. The amount of therapy provided by occupational and physical therapists was significantly more than that provided by speech-language pathologists. CONCLUSIONS: Patterns of time spent in therapy are similar for all LOS groups, but type of therapy received reflects a complex interaction of patient severity, rehabilitation discipline, and LOS.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

The effect of prospective payment on rehabilitative care.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the difference between cost and prospective payment system (PPS) reimbursements for rehabilitation care and to simulate potential consequences of cost-reducing strategies. DESIGN: A retrospective study to estimate costs and functional status at discharge from care. SETTING: An academic, urban, rehabilitation hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Stroke patients on their first admission to a rehabilitation hospital between 1994 and 1998. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cost was estimated from billing databases. Function was measured using the motor and cognitive components of the FIM instrument. RESULTS: PPS reimbursements were 10,825 dollars (37%) lower than costs. No matter how much therapy was reduced, the costs were still greater than the mean PPS reimbursement. A reduction in length of stay by 9.6 days was required to bring costs in line with the PPS reimbursement, reducing discharge cognitive function by 1.1 points (P <.01). Use of group therapy brought costs close to PPS reimbursement amount and improved discharge cognitive function by 0.5 points (P <.10). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows the large difference between costs and expected PPS reimbursements that would have been observed before the PPS. Institutions have many options that reduce costs, with little effect on function at discharge. Future studies should determine the impact of evolving reimbursement rules on facilities financial status, and on patient outcomes.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Relationship between rehabilitation therapies and outcome of stroke patients in Israel: a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between the amount of rehabilitation therapy and functional outcome in stroke patients has not been established. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of inpatient rehabilitation for post-acute stroke, and examine the relationship between intensity of therapies and functional status at discharge. METHODS: We evaluated 50 first-stroke patients, average age 63 years, in a prospective descriptive study. The impairment and Functional Independence Measurement were assessed both at admission to rehabilitation and at discharge. Patients were monitored weekly during their stay by means of discipline-specific measures of activity level. Predictor variables included intensity of physical, occupational and speech therapies; demographic characteristics; length of stay; and time since the stroke. RESULTS: A significant reduction in impairment was observed at discharge. The predictors of gains and activity level at discharge as well as motor vs. cognitive components of the FIM were neither consistent nor did they occur in the same trend of functional improvement. Greater FIM motor level at discharge was associated with younger age, higher admission motor and cognitive level, and receipt of any speech therapy, while greater FIM cognitive level was associated with higher cognitive level at admission, shorter interval from onset to admission, and more intense occupational therapy. More intense OT was associated with greater and more cognitive improvement during the hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Since the sample was relatively small and heterogenous in terms of the patients' functional abilities, the findings cannot be generalized to the whole population of stroke patients. Further efforts to identify the best timing, modalities, intensity and frequency of the various treatments are needed to improve the cost-benefit equation of rehabilitation in stroke patients.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2003

Should symptoms be scaled for intensity, frequency, or both?

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the comparability of two 5-point symptom self-report rating scales: Intensity (from "not at all" to "very much") and Frequency (from "none of the time" to "all of the time"). Questions from the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue 13-item scale was examined. METHODS: Data from 161 patients (60 cancer, 51 stroke, 50 HIV) were calibrated separately to fit an item response theory-based rating scale model (RSM). The RSM specifies intersection parameters (step thresholds) between two adjacent response categories and the item location parameter that reflects the probability that a problem will be endorsed. Along with patient fatigue scores ("measures"), the spread of the step thresholds and between-threshold ranges were examined. The item locations were also examined for differential item functioning. RESULTS: There was no mean raw score difference between intensity and frequency rating scales (37.2 vs. 36.4, p = n.s.). The high correlation (r = .86, p < .001) between the intensity versus frequency scores indicated their essential equivalence. However, frequency step thresholds covered more of the fatigue measurement continuum and were more equidistant, and therefore reduced floor and ceiling effects. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: These two scaling methods produce essentially equivalent fatigue estimates; it is difficult to justify assessing both. The frequency response scaling may be preferable in that it provides fuller coverage of the fatigue continuum, including slightly better differentiation of people with relatively little fatigue, and a small group of the most fatigued patients. Intensity response scaling offers slightly more precision among the patients with significant fatigue.

Chronic Disease↗

PubMed2003

Item banking to improve, shorten and computerize self-reported fatigue: an illustration of steps to create a core item bank from the FACIT-Fatigue Scale.

Fatigue is a common symptom among cancer patients and the general population. Due to its subjective nature, fatigue has been difficult to effectively and efficiently assess. Modern computerized adaptive testing (CAT) can enable precise assessment of fatigue using a small number of items from a fatigue item bank. CAT enables brief assessment by selecting questions from an item bank that provide the maximum amount of information given a person's previous responses. This article illustrates steps to prepare such an item bank, using 13 items from the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Subscale (FACIT-F) as the basis. Samples included 1022 cancer patients and 1010 people from the general population. An Item Response Theory (IRT)-based rating scale model, a polytomous extension of the Rasch dichotomous model was utilized. Nine items demonstrating acceptable psychometric properties were selected and positioned on the fatigue continuum. The fatigue levels measured by these nine items along with their response categories covered 66.8% of the general population and 82.6% of the cancer patients. Although the operational CAT algorithms to handle polytomously scored items are still in progress, we illustrated how CAT may work by using nine core items to measure level of fatigue. Using this illustration, a fatigue measure comparable to its full-length 13-item scale administration was obtained using four items. The resulting item bank can serve as a core to which will be added a psychometrically sound and operational item bank covering the entire fatigue continuum.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The impact of stroke practice guidelines on knowledge and practice patterns of acute care health professionals.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Post-Stroke Rehabilitation Guidelines were developed to improve the quality, appropriateness and effectiveness of rehabilitation practices. An important goal of the guidelines process is to disseminate information to practitioners in order to encourage adoption of effective practices. To date, no systematic evaluation of these guidelines has been completed, nor has a programme been designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational programme about the guidelines. The objective was to evaluate changes in knowledge and practice following presentation of a lecture-based, educational programme about post-stroke rehabilitation guidelines. METHODS: The research design was a single group, pre-test-post-test design without a comparison group. A knowledge and referral practices questionnaire was developed specifically for this study. RESULTS: Lecture attendance was not associated with an increase in knowledge or referrals. However, we found that respondents who made more referrals at follow-up had a higher knowledge level at pre-test. Also, those who completed a follow-up assessment knew more about the guidelines at the initial assessment than did those who did not complete the follow-up assessment. In addition, doctors knew more about stroke rehabilitation than the non-doctors, both at the pre-test and follow-up. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Encouraging behaviour change among doctors and allied health professionals in referrals and clinical practice is a complicated process. Providing individual follow-up and lengthier contacts, assuring that care providers receive high-quality evidence that guidelines improve care, and consulting with key decision-makers about guideline implementation might enhance behaviour change.

Chicago↗

PubMed2003

Issues in the development of an item bank.

OBJECTIVE: To describe and illustrate 2 issues involved in the development of an item bank that can be used to improve measurement across settings and over time. DESIGN: Secondary (psychometric) analysis of data collected on existing quality of life (QOL) instruments. SETTING: Five cancer clinics in hospital settings in various parts of the United States; 523 solo or group practices in 3 major US cities; and an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in a large metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS: Illustration 1: 399 persons being treated for or having a history of cancer, 170 persons being treated for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 328 persons with stroke assessed during and after acute rehabilitation, and 433 persons being treated for multiple sclerosis. Illustration 2: 1714 persons with cancer and/or HIV participating in a large-scale multisite study, 3429 persons with prevalent treatable chronic health conditions, and 125 persons with stage IV metastatic breast cancer. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: QOL as measured by 10 different instruments. RESULTS: The illustrations show that (1). core items, which functioned similarly across 4 diagnostic groups, can be identified and used to construct instruments measuring physical function that are tailored to each of these groups, and (2). items from 3 separate datasets can be linked to create a dataset that can serve as an initial pain item bank. CONCLUSION: The methodology exists to develop item banks to develop better measures of QOL.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2003

Outcomes of systematic motivational counseling for substance use following traumatic brain injury.

The effects of Systematic Motivational Counseling (SMC) on adults following traumatic brain injury (TBI) were assessed. The sample comprised 40 participants in the SMC Group who received 12 individual SMC sessions and 54 participants in the Comparison Group who received no motivational or substance-abuse treatment. Both groups received rehabilitation for their brain injuries. The SMC additionally focused on participants' personal goals and concerns in various areas of their lives, and helped them to formulate and execute concrete and realistic plans for resolving their concerns. To assess changes across time in the SMC Group, motivational structure, positive and negative affect, and substance use were measured at baseline, immediately after the intervention (mean of 10.2 months from baseline), and at a follow-up (mean of 9.1 months later). Because the comparison group had no SMC intervention, only two assessments were taken: at baseline and at a follow-up (mean of 12.8 months later). Across time, the SMC Group showed significant improvements in motivational structure and a significant reduction in negative affect and the use of substances of abuse. There were no corresponding changes in the Comparison Group. The results indicate that SMC improves motivational indices and may help to moderate substance use; hence they suggest a potential role for SMC in the rehabilitation of patients with TBI.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Brief cognitive assessment and prediction of functional outcome in stroke.

To evaluate the ability to predict outcome with a brief measure of cognitive ability, we tested consecutive admissions who received inpatient rehabilitation for stroke with the Repeatable Battery for Assessment of Neuropsychological Symptoms (RBANS). Six months later, 34 discharged patients were contacted by telephone and were interviewed using a battery of functional outcome and quality of life measures. Multiple regression analysis showed that inpatient RBANS indexes predicted cognitive disability 6 months later. The present findings support the use of cognitive evaluations of patients with acute stroke to assist with prediction of outcome to be used in treatment planning.

Journal Article↗