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Neurological Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation and Functional Outcomes Following West Nile Virus Meningoencephalitis

Saturday, October 25, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM MT
Location: Original Research Theater
Disclosure(s):
Taylor E. Heap, Other: No financial relationships to disclose
Kristina Cavey, NA: No financial relationships to disclose
Background and/or Objectives: There is a critical gap in literature regarding functional outcomes for patients with West Nile Virus (WNV) meningoencephalitis. This study aimed to: 1) describe functional progression of mobility, self-care, cognition, and medical complications for patients admitted to acute care and inpatient rehab (IPR) with WNV meningoencephalitis; and 2) explore the relationship between functional outcomes and social determinants of health (SDOH).

Design: Retrospective cohort analysis

Setting : Acute care and inpatient rehabilitation hospitals

Participants : 119 adult patients admitted for WNV meningoenephalitis at a large hospital system from January 2022 to December 2023 with physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), or speech language pathology (SLP) evaluations.

Interventions: Not applicable

Main Outcome Measures: Demographics, national area deprivation index (ADI), 2024 Estimated Tract Median Family Income, Activity Measure for Post Acute Care (AMPAC), and quality indicator (QI) scores.

Results: The average acute care length of stay was 13.66 days. AMPAC significantly increased for PT (p=0.05) and OT (p < 0.001), but not for SLP (p=0.25). Complications included mechanical ventilation (26.5%), enteral feedings (25.6%), neurogenic bladder (19.7%), and venous thrombus embolism (11.1%). 31.9% were admitted to IPR and 14.3% were admitted to subacute rehab. There was association of IPR admission with acute care length of stay (p=0.012), but not with age, sex, race, ethnicity, insurance status, or national median family income, and national ADI approached significance (p=0.058). IPR average length of stay was 15.63 days. IPR QI measures improved for PT (p < 0.001), OT (p < 0.001), and SLP (expression p=0.027; understanding p=0.048; eating p=0.003).

Conclusions: Patients with WNV meningoencephalitis had notable functional improvement following rehabilitation, particularly in PT and OT, with additional improvement in SLP if admitted to IPR. Further investigation into SDOH and WNV meningoencephalitis outcomes is needed.