Prediction of vocational status three to four months after treated mild traumatic brain injury

Objectives: To identify variables correlated with vocational functioning 3-4 months after treated mild traumatic brain injury [MTBI]. Methods: One hundred eighteen adults who had received specialized treatment soon after MTBI were interviewed 3-4 months later, to evaluate if they had returned to full time pre-injury vocational activity. Variables previously shown to be related to functioning after MTBI were used in a stepwise discriminant function analysis, in an attempt to predict vocational outcome. Results: Seeking or receiving financial compensation at follow-up, and older age, were the only two variables retained in the discriminant function analysis, as useful in predicting which persons had returned to work and which had not. Conclusions: The strong correlation between financial compensation issues and vocational status in this treated MTBI sample replicates a relationship previously reported numerous times in untreated MTBI samples. The reasons for this strong correlation have not been extensively investigated and remain controversial; further research to help explain this robust and reliable correlation is clearly warranted.