Factors predicting return to work following mild traumatic brain injury: Adiscriminant analysis

Studies of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) suggest that most individuals recover rapidly and return to their everyday activities. However, a percen tage of MTBI patients report persistent problems with cognitive, physical, and emotional symptoms. There is also evidence that some experience changes in occupational functioning following MTBI. The current study used a stepw ise discriminant function analysis (DFA) to examine the role of injury seve rity variables, cognitive performance, and ratings of symptoms of TBI in pr edicting work status following MTBI. Subjects included 121 MTBI patients wh o were all active-duty military personnel. The stepwise DFA revealed that a ge and three cognitive variables (verbal memory, verbal fluency, and a spee d test of planning and strategy) were predictive of work status 3-15 months following a documented MTBI, correctly classifying work status 68.8% of th e time. A cross-validation DFA was conducted, with a 66.1% correct classifi cation rate. These findings highlight the importance of cognitive impairmen ts in identifying those at risk for occupational impairment following MTBI.