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Question: On the Form II, variable 20Ab & 20Ac now have a code "4". Do I understand this to actually be a form of chart review? How will this code be treated in calculation of follow-up rates in the Quarterly Report?
Answer: The "4"code was added in response to a center's need to be able to enter a code for V20Ab and V20Ac for a few respondents who had withdrawn authorization during the follow-up window but re-authorized TBIMS data collection after the window had closed, and for whom, it turned out, data usable in their Form IIs were obtainable later from sources that had happened to have collected that information for clinical purposes, during the follow-up window. The key elements in this situation are: (a) data could not be obtained by TBIMS data collectors (or their proxies) from any source during the follow-up window, and (b) data that were appropriate for entering into the Form II were collected elsewhere during the follow-up window and became available to TBIMS data collectors after the follow-up window had closed. This is a rare situation. The availability of this new code should not affect your data collection practices or your use of the 1, 2, and 3 codes under any circumstances other than when the above two key elements are present. Form II data that are obtained by chart review during the follow-up window should be coded 1, 2, or 3, depending on how the original data collector obtained it for entering into the chart. In the Quarterly Report follow-up rates, the "4" code will be counted the same as the 1, 2, and 3 codes. That is, Form IIs with a "4" in V20Ab and V20Ac will be counted as having been submitted with data.
Date Answered: 01-15-2004
Question: On the syllabus I have and on the list of Form II Syllabus changes, it is noted "Added code 7" but that code isn't on the new Form II. Should it be?
Answer: This code is used only for very specific purposes that data collectors will not run into. So, the code should not be on the Form II.
Date Answered: 01-15-2004
Question: On the syllabus I have and on the list of Form II Syllabus changes, it is noted "Added code 7" but that code isn't on the new Form II. Should it be?
Answer: This code is used only for very specific purposes that data collectors will not run into. So, the code should not be on the Form II.
Date Answered: 05-20-2004
Question: Person entered hospital NOT for TBI. Received a TBI in hospital. How to handle various issues in coding?
Answer: If in-house TBI meets inclusion criteria, then enroll this person and code accordingly. Please contact if any specific coding questions.
Date Answered: 02-18-2005
Question: We have a patient who just turned 16 but was not 16 at the time of injury. Can we enroll him?
Answer: No. Patients must be 16 at the time of injury.
Date Answered: 12-03-2004
Question: I have a 61 year-old man who worked most of his life in an engineering position. A few months ago he was laid off and went to work as a salesman in a large home supply store where he subsequently was injured. In the year after his injury, he returned to this job. However, after 24 weeks, he decided to retire because of fatigue, and because it really wasn't the kind of work he was trained to do. He has no plans to work again.
Answer: Recall that "employment status" is coded according to the coding priority as shown on the data collection form and in the syllabus. The coding priority is applied in cases when more than one employment status is indicated by the respondent. In your example the person says that he retired due to fatigue (presumably "disability" due to the brain injury) and to the job not being the kind of work he was trained to do (ie., an "other" reason). The coding priority lists "retired (disability)" but does not list "retired (other)", so "retired (disability" is the higher priority and is the correct choice. The other two categories you wonder about--"retired (age)" and "unemployed (not looking)"--can be ruled out because they aren't indicated by the respondent.
Date Answered: 09-08-2005
Question: On the pre-injury questionnaire, the question refers only to "brain injury," not specifically traumatic. Is this a problem?
Answer: This difference is not important. The term "brain injury" is popularly used to refer to what the medical world refers to as "traumatic brain injury". For example, newspaper descriptions of auto accidents refer to "brain injury" rather than "traumatic brain inury". Also, as commonly used, the term "brain injury" does not include damage due to non-traumatic causes. Newspaper descriptions of persons who have suffered brain damage due to inhaling fumes or being without oxygen refer to "brain damage" rather than "brain injury".
Date Answered: 03-14-2006
Question: How should 123d be coded for participants who at the time of injury were retired due to age ?
Answer: Probe to determine if at the time of injury they had physical, mental, or emotional problems that--if they had been working--would have caused them difficulty and which they had had for the past 6 months.
Date Answered: 03-14-2006
Question: How should 123d be coded if the person was not working at the time of injury?
Answer: If the participant was not working at the time of injury, the data collector should probe to determine if the participant would have had difficulty if he/she were working. If the participant would have had difficulty, then determine if the difficulty would have been due to physical, mental, or emotional problems that had been present for at least 6 months. If the participant would have had difficulty and if the difficulty would have been due to physical, mental, or emotional problems that had been present for at least 6 months, then code 2=yes. Otherwise code 1=no.
Date Answered: 07-01-2005
Question: Why isn't there an "unknown" code?
Answer: This variable should never be unknowable.
Date Answered: 11-26-2003
Question: Does the database calculate total admission FIM using walking score or wheelchair score? Is that score directly related to mode of locomotion at discharge? E.g., if walking at d/c then is the walking at adm score used in calculating total score?
Answer: Walking score at admission is used if peson is walking at dc, and wheelchair at acmission score is used if person is in wheelchair at dc. (This answer can be found in the Data Dictionary in the database.)
Date Answered: 01-14-2004
Question: We have a subject that was involved in an airplane crash. The primary source of insurance is actually the commercial insurance from the flight school. (Pan American International Flight Academy). The bills are being sent to Phoenix Aviation Mgr. Inc. What type of payor is this?
Answer: Any given payor may have many kinds of policies, so the name of the payor is often not sufficient information for determining type of policy. In order to determine type of policy, contact a person in your hospital's billing department who is familiar with this person's case.
Date Answered: 11-09-2006
Question: Unlike the Form I, Form II has only one field for employment status. Is there a reason for this inconsistency between the forms?
Answer: Until 1/1/2003 there were two employment status boxes in the Form II, as well. The second box was deleted by vote of the Project Directors at their meeting in December 2002, as part of the initiative to eliminate low-priority and no-longer-needed variables.
Date Answered: 12-03-2004
Question: I have a 61 year-old man who worked most of his life in an engineering position. A few months ago he was laid off and went to work as a salesman in a large home supply store where he subsequently was injured. In the year after his injury, he returned to this job. However, after 24 weeks, he decided to retire because of fatigue, and because it really wasn't the kind of work he was trained to do. He has no plans to work again.
Answer: Recall that "employment status" is coded according to the coding priority as shown on the data collection form and in the syllabus. The coding priority is applied in cases when more than one employment status is indicated by the respondent. In your example the person says that he retired due to fatigue (presumably "disability" due to the brain injury) and to the job not being the kind of work he was trained to do (ie., an "other" reason). The coding priority lists "retired (disability)" but does not list "retired (other)", so "retired (disability" is the higher priority and is the correct choice. The other two categories you wonder about--"retired (age)" and "unemployed (not looking)"--can be ruled out because they aren't indicated by the respondent.
Date Answered: 06-26-2006
Question: I have a follow-up with a participant who is scheduled to start work a week after the interview took place. According to the syllabus, I'm to code him 05, competively employed for 211a, but then for 211b do I code 0 hours per week worked?
Answer: V211b should be coded as the number of hours that he will be working. If anticipated employment falls through, be sure to correct this in the database.
Date Answered: 06-26-2006
Question: I have a follow-up with a participant who is scheduled to start work a week after the interview took place. Should I code this variable as the date he's actually scheduled to start employment?
Answer: If this is the person's first regular job after the brain injury, then next week's start date is the date that should be coded for V211c. If his planned employment falls through, be sure to correct this information in the database.
Date Answered: 02-02-2004
Question: In coding 292e we noticed that the note about coding this as a pre-injury arrest is no longer accurate now that 192e has been deleted.
Answer: This will be corrected in next quarter's syllabus. [Change made 4/1/04.]
Date Answered: 10-12-2004
Question: In the GOS-E, if one or more items are "9=unknown", should the overall score be "9=unknown"?
Answer: Not necessarily. The hierarchical nature of the GOS-E items causes lower items in the scale to not contribute to the overall score if the person is able to perform the task described by a higher item. For more information see the email sent 10/12/2004, which will be added to the syllabus as a NOTE on 1/1/2005.
Date Answered: 03-31-2004
Question: It would be good if you could recreate the coding as in 8.1, because it's very useful for checking the accuracy with which data collectors assign the overall score.
Answer: That has been added to the data entry screens as a check on the accuracy of data collector's calculation of the overall score.

Traumatic Brain Injury Model System National Database Live Syllabus V10.3
Monday, September 25, 2006 10:48am  .   comments/questions?
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