Primary objective: To investigate the relationship between pre-injury alcohol abuse and intoxication at time of injury on duration of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) as well as on early functional and neurobehavioural outcomes in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) hospitalized in an acute care setting.

Methods and procedure: Sixty persons with mild, moderate and severe TBI admitted to the intensive care unit were part of this retrospective study.

Main outcomes: Duration of PTA, length of stay (LOS), Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS-E) score, the FIM™† score as well as early neuropsychological outcome measured by the Neurobehavioural Rating Scale Revised (NBRS-R).

Results: 2-factor ANOVAs and chi-squares tests showed that PTA and LOS were significantly longer in the group of patients with pre-injury alcohol abuse, regardless of whether they were intoxicated or not at the time of injury. Moreover, the FIM™ total and cognitive scores were significantly higher for the group intoxicated on admission compared to the sober group. However, GOS-E scores and results on the NBRS-R were similar.

Conclusions: Despite a longer PTA and LOS, global and neurobehavioural outcomes at discharge from acute care were not different for those with pre-injury alcohol abuse.