Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Objective
To delineate health care disruption for individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) during the peak of the pandemic and to understand the impact of health care disruption on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).Design
Cross-sectional survey.Setting
General community.Participants
Volunteer sample of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI; n=33), adults with stroke (n=66), and adults without TBI or stroke (n=108) with access to the internet and personal technology (N=207).Interventions
Not applicable.Main outcome measures
Not applicable.Results
Participants with TBI and stroke reported high rates of disruption in care specific to their diagnosis (53%-54.5%), while participants across all groups reported disruption for major medical care (range, 68.2%-80%), general health care (range, 60.3%-72.4%), and mental health care (range, 31.8%-83.3%). During the pandemic, participants with TBI and stroke used telehealth for care specific to their diagnosis (40.9%-42.4%), whereas all participants used telehealth for major medical care (range, 50%-86.7%), general health care (range, 31.2%-53.3%), and mental health care (range, 53.8%-72.7%). Disruption in TBI or stroke care and type of ABI explained 27.1% of the variance in HRQoL scores (F2,95=16.82, P<.001, R 2=0.262), and disruption in mental health care explained 14.8% of the variance (F1,51=8.86, P=.004, R 2=0.148).Conclusions
Individuals with and without ABI experienced pronounced disruption in health care utilization overall. However, individuals who experienced a disruption in care specific to TBI or mental health care were most vulnerable to decreased HRQoL. Telehealth was a viable alternative to in-person visits for individuals with and without ABI, but limitations included difficulty with technology, difficulty with comprehensive examination, and decreased rapport with providers.
SUBMITTER: Kim GJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8677629 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

Kim Grace J GJ Kim Hayejin H Fletcher Jason J Voelbel Gerald T GT Goverover Yael Y Chen Peii P O'Dell Michael W MW Genova Helen M HM
Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation 20211217 1
<h4>Objective</h4>To delineate health care disruption for individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) during the peak of the pandemic and to understand the impact of health care disruption on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional survey.<h4>Setting</h4>General community.<h4>Participants</h4>Volunteer sample of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI; n=33), adults with stroke (n=66), and adults without TBI or stroke (n=108) with access to the internet and persona ...[more]