Traumatic brain injury research since the 1998 NIH Consensus Conference: accomplishments and unmet goals

In 1998, an NIH sponsored Consensus Conference on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Rehabilitation identified 30 different areas of needed research. A comprehensive review of recently generated research knowledge in the field of TBI has shown that a large number of Class III and IV evidence studies have been published, but relatively few of the more scientifically rigorous Class I or II studies. A rapid growth of publications on TBI rehabilitation has generated new knowledge in the epidemiology of TBI, the management of TBI and its secondary medical complications, rehabilitation of cognitive impairment, impact of TBI on community integration and quality of life, incidence of psychiatric dysfunction, and how caregivers and family members are affected. However, there is need to replicate many of these studies using more scientifically rigorous methodologies, while other areas of important TBI research remain largely unexplored.