• Lynn H Gerber, Rati Deshpande, Ali Moosvi, Ross Zafonte, Tamara Bushnik, Steven Garfinkel, and Cindy Cai.
• Department of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
• NeuroRehabilitation. 2021 Jan 1; 48 (4): 451-467.

BackgroundPractice guidelines (CPGs) provide informed treatment recommendations from systematic reviews and assessment of the benefits and harms that are intended to optimize patient care. Review of CPGs addressing rehabilitation for people with moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), has not been fully investigated.ObjectiveIdentify published, vetted, clinical practice guidelines that address rehabilitation for people with moderate/severe TBI.MethodsSix data bases were accessed using key word search terms: "Traumatic Brain Injury" and "Clinical Practice Guidelines" and "Rehabilitation". Further inclusions included "adult" and "moderate or severe". Exclusions included: "mild" and "concussive injury". Three reviewers read abstracts and manuscripts for final inclusion. The AGREE II template was applied for additional appraisal.ResultsThere were 767 articles retrieved using the search terms, 520 were eliminated because of content irrelevance; and 157 did not specify rehabilitation treatment or did not follow a process for CPGs. A total of 17 CPGs met all criteria and only 4 of these met all AGREE II criteria.ConclusionThere are few CPGs addressing rehabilitation for people with moderate/severe TBI. More interventional trials are needed to determine treatment effectiveness. Timely and methodologically sound vetting of studies are needed to ensure CPG reliability and facilitate access to quality, effective treatment for people with moderate/severe TBI.

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