Screening and outcomes of co-occurring traumatic brain injury among people with spinal cord injury: a scoping review.

Objective: To map existing knowledge on screening and rehabilitation outcomes for co-occurring traumatic brain injury among people with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Articles focusing on screening and rehabilitation outcomes in participants sustaining co-occurring traumatic brain injury and traumatic spinal cord injury (all ages) were identified in Ovid, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses electronic databases. There were no limitations on study design, date, or geographical location. Articles were excluded if they were not available in English. Data were extracted into the Rayyan online collaboration platform and summarized descriptively.

Results: Twenty-five studies were included, with a mix of retrospective, case-control, and prospective cohort designs. Screening under-estimated traumatic brain injury incidence when approaches relied on inconsistently collected traumatic brain injury indicators, especially for mild traumatic brain injury. Rehabilitation outcomes included length of stay, functional outcomes, cognitive functioning, complication rates, and employment. Although mixed, outcomes among persons with moderate to severe co-occurring traumatic brain injury especially, appeared poorer than those with spinal cord injury alone.

Conclusions: Multivariable approaches to traumatic brain injury ascertainment and greater consistency in documenting acute traumatic brain injury indicators may improve reliability of capturing traumatic brain injury and traumatic brain injury severity among persons with traumatic spinal cord injury. Impacts of co-occurring traumatic brain injury appear greater relative to SCI alone but few studies analysed outcomes based on traumatic brain injury severity.