DISABILITY FOLLOWING HEAD-INJURY

Disability following head injury varies depending on injury mechanism, neuropathology, and other factors, including medical complications. M ild head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale score 13-15) has been shown to hav e considerable variability in outcome. Some persons experience rapid s ymptom resolution whereas others continue to evidence symptoms for an extended duration. A small, but clinically significant number of patie nts may be neuropsychologically and occupationally disabled at least u p to 1 year postinjury. Methodological problems continue to plague mil d head injury outcome studies. In contrast, moderate (Glasgow Coma Sca le score 9-12) and severe head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale score 3-8) r esult in more consistent patterns of disability following injury. In g eneral, patients who sustain moderate to severe head injury tend to ex perience persistent and extensive neuropsychological, psychiatric, and occupational impairment. The impact of rehabilitative interventions i s variable and dependent on injury severity, intervention type, and ou tcome criteria.