UC Irvine

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of inpatient acute rehabilitation on overall function, quality of life and overall survival for glioma patients. DESIGN: A retrospective study of glioma patients treated at UCI Neuro-Oncology Program. PARTICIPANTS: We have identified 12 patients with glioma diagnosis who underwent inpatient acute rehabilitation program using our IRB approved neuro-oncology database. OUTCOME ASSESSMENT TOOLS: Functional status based upon Karnofsky performance scale (KPS), quality of life as assessed by Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Brain (FACT-Br) and overall survival. RESULTS: We identified on our study 3 patients with glioblastoma, 7 patients with anaplastic gliomas, and 2 patients with low grade gliomas. All of them had radiation and chemotherapy, except 2 patients with low grade gliomas who had radiation treatment only. The age range is from 26 to 77 and the mean age is 49-year-old. All the patients who underwent the acute inpatient rehabilitation program at our institution, not only improved their KPS scale significantly, but also enhanced their social and emotional well-being. The median KPS improvement is 30 points from a 3-6 weeks stay. Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Brain (FACT-Br) is obtained from 4 patients at this time (further information will be presented at SNO conference). The mean FACT-Br TOI is 60.8, and the total FACT0Br Score is 119.6. Survival data are still collected. CONCLUSIONS: The patients who underwent acute inpatient rehabilitation program, showed significant improvements in their functional status and quality of life. The observation from this pilot study warrants further research and demonstrates the acute inpatient rehabilitation may be beneficial to glioma patients with good physical functions and tolerance for 3 hours a day of physical, occupation and speech therapies.