Return to work following moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury

Primary objective: To investigate the role of cognitive functioning, fatigue, mood and behaviour in return to work (RTW) following moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury.

Design and methods: Between-groups comparisons were conducted with 20 participants who had RTW and 13 who had not. Participants were well matched for age, pre-morbid intellectual functioning, years of education, injury severity and time since injury.

Outcomes and results: The unemployed group reported significantly higher levels of fatigue and depression and significantly more problems on self-report questionnaires. A significantly higher proportion of this group was seeking compensation. No significant differences were obtained on neuropsychological measures of cognitive functioning.

Conclusions: Mood, fatigue and behavioural problems may impede a person's ability to RTW. Subjective measures may be more superior to objective measures in predicting RTW. The litigation process may affect people's motivation to RTW.