Tinker toy test performance and vocational outcome in patients with closed-head injuries

Fifty patients who had suffered closed-head injury with no resultant physical disabilities and 25 normal controls were administered a modified version of Lezak's Tinker Toy Test. All head-injured patients were examined at least 24 months following medical clearance to return to work. Twenty-five of the head injured had been unable to return to work or sustain normal competitive employment as a result of their head injuries. The remaining 25 had returned to their previous jobs successfully or had been employed for at least 6 months prior to assessment. Whereas all but one of the head injured who returned to work scored normally on the Tinker Toy Test, nearly half of the nonreturnees performed below the level of the worst control.