Recovery from mild head injury

The subjective and objective sequelae accompanying mild head injury (MHI) a re discussed in an attempt to clarify MHI's immediate and long-term consequ ences. Areas covered include epidemiol ogy, classification, the post-concus sive syndrome (PCS), malingering, extent of recovery, rehabilitation and gu idelines for clinical practice. Special emphasis is placed on the poor rela tionship between subjective complaint and objective measures of impairment. Also discussed are some of the methodological problems in the MHI literatu re, including attempts to match MHI subjects and controls with respect to c ognitive and emotional complaint and the possible confounding effects of pr actice. The evidence for long-lasting (i.e. more than 1 year), subtle neuro behavioural impairment after MHI indicates that additional research is requ ired on MHI 1 year or more after injury.