Purpose Spatial neglect commonly occurs after stroke and predicts poor rehabilitation outcomes. However, this disorder is under-recognized in clinical practices, which may result from the failure to document its presence. This study aimed to identify the predictors for documentation of spatial neglect in inpatient rehabilitation facilities. Method We performed a comprehensive chart review to investigate whether the presence of spatial neglect was documented in 74 neglect patients’ clinical notes recorded by physicians, nurses, or occupational therapists (OTs), or in team conference notes. Independent variables included neglect severity, length of stay, Functional Independence Measure at admission and discharge. Results Of the 74 neglect patients, 75.7% were documented by OTs, 63.5% by physicians, and 17.6% by nurses. Although 93.2% of neglect patients were recognized by at least one clinician group, only 31.1% were discussed in multidisciplinary team conferences. Neglect patients who were documented by physicians were more likely to be documented in team conferences. While no factors predicted whether a neglect patient would be documented by nurses or OTs, we found significant predictors for neglect documentation in physician and team conference notes. The odds of being documented by physicians were increasingly greater with poorer efficiency of cognitive rehabilitation (odds ratio = 0.70). The odds of being discussed in team conferences were increasingly greater with more severe neglect (odds ratio = 0.98), and with longer stay in hospitalization (odds ratio = 1.06). Conclusions Multidisciplinary care may not involve as much interdisciplinary communication as needed to document important disease states. Stroke rehabilitation professionals should be able to recognize spatial neglect independently and document it consistently.

Objective To test the hypothesis that a left-dominant brain immune network (LD-BIN) might affect the occurrence of infection during inpatient rehabilitation of stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design A retrospective analysis was performed on electronic medical records between January 2009 and December 2010. All patients with left-or right-sided stroke or TBI were included into the study. The LD-BIN hypothesis was tested by comparing HAI rates depending on whether patients had left- or right-sided brain lesions. Setting A large inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Participants Among the patients (N=2236) with stroke or TBI who had either a left- or right-sided brain lesion, 163 patients were identified with HAIs. Intervention Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure Frequency of HAIs. Results In the 163 patients identified with HAIs with a diagnosis of stroke or TBI, chi-square analysis revealed a significantly higher proportion of HAIs among patients with left-sided (n=98; 60.1%) relative to right-sided (n=65; 39.9%) brain injuries (χ2=6.68, P<.01). These effects could not be attributed to either clinical or demographic factors. Conclusions Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that an LD-BIN may mediate vulnerability to infection during rehabilitation of patients with stroke or TBI. Further translational research investigating novel means of managing patients based on brain lesion location, and modulating the LD-BIN via behavioral and physiologic interventions, may result in neuroscience-based methods to improve infection resistance in brain-injured patients.

BACKGROUND: In general, people with disabilities have lower levels of social capital, a measure of the quality of social relations, than people without disabilities. People with disabilities who participate in the labor force, however, have been found to have higher levels of social capital than their peers who do not participate in the labor force. OBJECTIVE: Using newly available data from the Survey of Disability and Employment (SDE), this study examined perceived social capital as it relates to supporting employment among applicants for state vocational rehabilitation (VR) services in three states: Mississippi, New Jersey, and Ohio. METHODS: We used multivariate analysis to compare differences in levels of perceived (i.e. cognitive) social capital between applicants who were employed and applicants who were not employed, by disability severity, age at disability onset, health status, and individual characteristics. RESULTS: VR applicants were more likely to benefit from social capital in their working lives if they reported currently working, less severe disability, and better perceived health. CONCLUSIONS: VR counselors must recognize that persons applying for VR services vary greatly in their access to the social supports that are closely associated with employment.

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