Head injury, an empirical study: describing long-term productivity and independent living outcome

As part of larger, multivariate study to be reported later, the present research gathered data from a knowledgeable informant, via telephone, concerning productivity and independent living outcomes for 75 subjects who sustained varying degrees of head injury, 4-7 years prior to the follow-up. The severity of the injury was measured using the Glasgow Coma Scale. Eighteen subjects had a severe injury, 24 had a moderate injury and 33 had a mild injury. The outcomes researched included indices of the subjects' ability to live independently and to be productive. In general, the data indicate that the more severe the injury, as measured by the best GCS during the first 24 hours, the more dependent and less productive the subject was at follow-up. This, however, was not invariably the case. Several mildly injured subjects had poor outcomes, while several severely injured subjects had relatively good outcomes at follow-up.