Associations between interpreter dependency and rehabilitation outcomes and care processes following acquired brain injury: a Swedish registry-based cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To explore interpreter dependency in relation to rehabilitation outcomes and rehabilitation process measures for patients with acquired brain injury. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SUBJECTS: Data from 13,900 inpatients, with acquired brain injury as main diagnosis, included in a Swedish quality registry (2008-2020). Of these, 391 patients were interpreter-dependent whereas 13,509 were not. METHOD: Outcomes were functional independence, health-related quality of life, self-perceived health, occurrence of complications, and length of stay. Process measures consisted of establishment of an individualized rehabilitation plan and collection of patient-reported experience measures. RESULTS: On admission as well as discharge, interpreter dependency was related to lower scores regarding functional independence, health-related quality of life, and self-perceived health, while showing no association with the degree of improvement in these outcomes between the 2 time points. Interpreter-dependent patients were less likely to have had patient-reported experience measures administered. The results regarding functional independence and patient-reported experience measures persisted after adjusting for confounding variables. Length of stay, occurrence of complications, and establishment of an individualized rehabilitation plan were not related to interpreter dependency. CONCLUSION: Disparities on admission and discharge were evident regarding functionality as well as health-related quality of life and self-perceived health. It is possible that acquired brain injury severity or disparities earlier in the care continuum may underlie the results.