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Comparative Study
. 2021 Jan;221(1):216-221.
doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.05.019. Epub 2020 May 19.

Reduced chronic pain: Another benefit of recovery at an inpatient rehabilitation facility over a skilled nursing facility?

Juan P Herrera-Escobar  1 , David Blake  2 , Alexander Toppo  3 , Kelsey Han  4 , George Kasotakis  2 , Haytham Ma Kaafarani  4 , George Velmahos  4 , Adil H Haider  3 , Ali Salim  5 , Deepika Nehra  5
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Reduced chronic pain: Another benefit of recovery at an inpatient rehabilitation facility over a skilled nursing facility?

Juan P Herrera-Escobar et al. Am J Surg. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Background: We sought to compare outcomes 6-12 months post-injury between patients discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) and a skilled nursing facility (SNF).

Methods: Trauma patients admitted to 3 Level-I trauma centers were interviewed to evaluate the presence of daily pain requiring medication, functional outcomes, and physical and mental health-related quality-of-life at 6-12 months post-injury. Inverse-probability-of-treatment-weighting (IPTW)-adjusted analyses were performed to compare outcomes between patients who were discharged to IRF vs SNF.

Results: A total of 519 patients were included: 389 discharged to IRFs and 130 to SNFs. In adjusted analyses, IRF was associated with a significant reduction in the likelihood of chronic pain after injury (28.3% vs. 44.7%; OR:0.49; 95% CI, 0.26-0.91; P = .02). However, there were no significant differences in functional outcome or SF-12 composite scores between groups.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that injured patients discharged to an IRF as compared to a SNF had less chronic pain and analgesic use.

Keywords: Chronic pain; Long-term outcomes; Recovery; Rehabilitation; Trauma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors of this manuscript certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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