The consequences of brain injury: Classification and assessment of outcome

A classification of the consequences and severity of any chronic condition is essential to its adequate service provision and to the study of its rehabilitation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) classification, International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH), provided an initial framework in 1980. The recent revision of the ICIDH, ICIDH-2, goes some way towards normalising disablement. It also makes much clearer how disadvantage results from inability to engage and interact at a social level, a particular problem after brain injury. The benefits of an increase in activities of daily life after injury are often self-evident or justified by cost. Increases in social interaction also need to be qualified by validated measures of subjective well-being. These dimensions require exploration in the brain injured population.