Ecological validity of neuropsychological and other predictors following head injury

This study evaluated the predictive value of neuropsychological variables as compared to three other types of variables (demographic, medical, and emotional) in predicting three outcomes (occupational function:OccF; activity impairment:AI; and pension impairment percent) in 483 head-injured ambulatory workers. OccF was equally well-predicted by neuropsychological or demographic variable-families. Al was best predicted by neuropsychological or emotional variable-families, and pension impairment percent was predicted equally well by all but emotional variable-families. Cross-validation showed good stability of the level of prediction. Discriminant analysis correctly classified 72% of subjects as Un/Employed. Neuropsychological test performance is related to important behavior in outpatient brain-injury survivors.