Publications

Selected Publications

  1. Evans E, Kosar CM, Thomas, KS. Positive Beliefs and the Likelihood of Successful Community Discharge from Skilled Nursing Facilities. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2021; 102 (3): 480-487. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2020.09.375
  2. Evans E, Gutman R, Resnik L, Zonfrillo MR, Lueckel SN, Kumar RG, DeVone F, Dams-O’Connor K, Thomas KS. Successful Community Discharge Among Older Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury in Skilled Nursing Facilities. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2021; 36 (3) E186-E198. doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000638
  3. Anderson M*, Evans E, Zonfrillo MR, Thomas KS. Rural and Urban Differences in Successful Discharge from Skilled Nursing Facilities among Older Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2021; 69 (6):1601-1608. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17065
  4. Kumar RG, Zhang W, Evans E, Dams-O’Connor K, Thomas KS. Research Letter: Characterization of Older Adults Hospitalized with Traumatic Brain Injury Admitted to Long-term Acute Care Hospitals. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2022;36(2) doi:1097/HTR.0000000000000685
  5. Evans E, Krebill C, Gutman R, Resnik L, Zonfrillo MR, Lueckel SN, Zhang W, Kumar RG, Dams-O’Connor K, Thomas, KS. Functional motor improvement during inpatient rehabilitation among older adults with Traumatic Brain Injury. PM&R: The journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation. 2022; 4(4)doi:10.1002/pmrj.12644

Please see a list of other publications.

Recent Publications

  1. American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine 101st Annual Conference. Dr. Emily Evans and colleagues are presenting two posters and three symposia during ACRM’s 2024 conference in Dallas, Texas. The presentations are described below:

Symposia: Building Capacity for Learning Health Systems Research in Rehabilitation: Turning Practice Data into Knowledge
Learning Health Systems (LHS) aim to enhance the efficiency, quality, and value of healthcare by capturing practice as data, generating knowledge from this data, and utilizing that knowledge to enhance care. Collaboration between health systems, clinicians, informaticists, and researchers with specialized LHS knowledge is needed to conduct successful LHS research. Speakers in this symposium will introduce the concept of LHS research, describe LHS research competencies, and discuss two projects within an LHS focused on capturing and converting clinical data into knowledge and actionable evidence. We will discuss the process of developing and completing each LHS project, share lessons learned, discuss effective strategies from the perspectives of LHS researchers, clinicians and informaticists. Additionally, we will present information on the Learning Health Systems Rehabilitation Research Network (LeaRRn), an NIH-funded rehabilitation resource center dedicated to developing rehabilitation LHS expertise and supporting emerging work in this area. The symposia will be presented Friday November 1st, 2024 from 4:15-5:15PM in the Senators Lecture Hall.

Symposia: Advancing Equity in TBI Rehabilitation Research: A Call to Action
This session will present the results of (1) a secondary analysis of the Cicerone, 2019 review of cognitive rehabilitation trials to examine reporting on race/ethnicity of the samples of included studies, (2) a survey of brain injury rehabilitation investigators examining recruitment and retention strategies used in their clinical trials, and (3) results of follow-up interviews with those investigators to examine perceived effectiveness of their strategies in enrolling and retaining racially and ethnically diverse samples, barriers to use of a broader range of strategies, and potential solutions to those barriers. We will end with a discussion of the implications of our findings for equity in brain injury rehabilitation research, and action planning to better support investigators. The symposia will be presented Saturday November 2nd, 2024 from 10:30-11:30AM in the De Soto A Region Room.

Symposia: Improvement and Implementation Science Methods: Similarities, Differences, and Applied Examples in Brain Injury Care
The learning objectives for this presentation are as follows: (1) Define the fields of improvement and implementation science in rehabilitation research, (2) Showcase applied examples of improvement and implementation science methods used in collaboration with clinical partners, (3) Demonstrate the integration of improvement and implementation science methods in brain injury rehabilitation, and (4) Define the fields of improvement and implementation science in rehabilitation research. The symposia will be presented Sunday November 3rd, 2024 from 2:00-3:00PM in the Wedgwood Ballroom.

Poster: Alignment Between Self-management Training and the Needs of Individuals with Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: A Qualitative Analysis
Research Objectives: To investigate the alignment between self-management needs and strategies used by individuals with TBI and training provided by the Chronic Disease Self-Management Training Program (CDSMP) to determine if the training aligns with the needs of people with TBI. Design: The study involved a secondary analysis of qualitative data from interviews conducted with individuals with TBI. The interviews focused on their experiences with community participation after TBI, including areas of work, school, community life, recreation & leisure, and relationships. Setting: Interviews occurred via a secure video conference platform. Participants: Interview participants included twenty-two community-dwelling individuals with a history of TBI. The average age was 48.6 years (SD 14.1), the average time since injury was 4.4 years (SD 2.8), and 68% had “mild” TBI. Main Outcome Measures: A codebook was developed based on the core self-management skills that form the foundation of the CDSMP. These skills include problem-solving, decision-making, using resources, relationships with healthcare providers, and taking action. Additional codes were added inductively based on the interview data. Results: Several interview participants reported using self-management strategies to help support their participation, whereas others reported barriers to participation that aligned with self-management training, indicating a potential training need. In addition to the self-management skills that underlie the CDSMP, interpersonal relationship skills were identified as both important and a barrier to community participation. Conclusions: The CDSMP self-management training skills appear to align with self-management strategies and needs identified by individuals with TBI. The results of this study suggest that future research should examine the effectiveness of CDSMP for individuals with TBI. Additional training or TBI-specific adaptations may be beneficial to address TBI-specific needs, e.g., managing interpersonal relationships outside of a healthcare setting.

Poster: Analysis of the Impact of sars-cov-2 on Emergency Department Visits for Traumatic Brain Injury
Research Objectives: To examine the characteristics of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) presenting to Level I and II Trauma Centers and the rate of TBI-related emergency department visits before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Level I and Level II Trauma Centers participating in the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Program. Participants: Admissions with an ICD-10-CM code indicating TBI, over the age of 18, admitted to a participating facility. Main Outcome Measures: Injury Severity Score (ISS), Glasgow Coma Scale at admission. Results: We observed a decline in the number of admissions to the ED in 2020 compared to other years. In a comparative analysis between pre-COVID (2017-2019) and pandemic years (2020-2021), we noted a higher proportion of people presenting to the ED with moderate to severe GCS scores and severe to profound ISS scores, as compared to milder injuries. This suggests a shift toward more severe injuries after the start of the pandemic. Conclusions: After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the population of individuals with TBI presenting to trauma center emergency departments has a relative increase the proportion of those with severe injuries compared to mild injuries. As observed in other studies, this may be associated with hesitancy in seeking care for mild injuries due to fear of acquiring COVID-19 or a desire to avoid overburdening the healthcare system. We observed a decrease in the number of admissions in 2020, which rebounded in 2021; however, the distribution of injury severity remained consistent. It is unclear whether changes in emergency department utilization will impact long-term recovery or access to healthcare services along the continuum.