Vocational Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury; Prevalence and Risk Factors After 1 Year in a Multivariable Model

Objective: To determine the prevalence of employment status (ES) or full-time study after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a representative population and its predictive factors. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Regional Major Trauma Centre. Participants: In total, 1734 consecutive individuals of working age, admitted with TBI to a Regional Trauma Centre, were recruited and followed up at 8 weeks and 1 year with face-to-face interview. Median age was 37.2 years (17.5-58.2); 51% had mild TBI, and 36.8% had a normal computed tomographic (CT) scan. Main Outcome Measure: Complete or partial/modified return to employment or study as an ordinal variable. Results: At 1 year, only 44.9% returned to full-time work/study status, 28.7% had a partial or modified return, and 26.4% had no return at all. In comparison with status at 6 weeks, 9.9% had lower or reduced work status. Lower ES was associated with greater injury severity, more CT scan abnormality, older age, mechanism of assault, and presence of depression, alcohol intoxication, or a psychiatric history. The multivariable model was highly significant (P
Source: The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation - Category: Neurology Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research