Measures of executive functioning as predictors of functional ability and social integration in a rehabilitation sample.

Abstract

To examine the utility of executive function tests in predicting rehabilitation outcome. A prospective, descriptive study of the value of neuropsychologic and motor functioning measures in the prediction of functional outcome 6 months after acute rehabilitation. A Midwestern, urban, university-affiliated rehabilitation hospital. Ninety consecutive admissions to traumatic brain injury, orthopedic, and spinal cord injury units. Age of the participants ranged from 17 to 73. Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ), Disability Rating Scale (DRS), SF-36 Health Survey. Canonical correlation analyses indicated that measures of executive functioning and verbal memory were strongly related to measures of functional outcome 6 months after rehabilitation, as measured by the DRS and the CIQ. In contrast, perceived health status as measured by the SF-36 was highly related to estimated premorbid IQ and modestly related to visuospatial impairment. Executive functioning, verbal memory, and estimated premorbid intelligence predict functional dependence after discharge from rehabilitation beyond information regarding basic sensory and motor skills. Moreover, there is a dissociation between measures of functional outcome, such that objective and behaviorally oriented measures of disability (CIQ and DRS) are strongly related to each other; however, they are not related to perceptions of general health status (SF-36).