Subpopulations in closed-head injury: preliminary results

The classification systems currently utilized to categorize closed-head injury (CHI) patients are all based on severity levels. However, these scales are unable to account for the wide variability among CHI patients. Another way to classify these patients is to use the clinical picture independent of the overall severity level. That approach is used with aphasic patients but not with the CHI population. These preliminary data indicate that there are distinct subgroups in the CHI population. These subgroups can be identified by their overall pattern of performance on a battery of tests covering language, memory, visuospatial, cognitive and discourse skills. The characteristics of the tentative subgroups are described, but a more extensive study is needed to confirm the robustness of this classification.