• T A Novack, B A Bush, J M Meythaler, and K Canupp.
• Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA. novack@uab.edu
• Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2001 Mar 1; 82 (3): 300-5.

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship of premorbid variables, injury severity, and cognitive and functional status to outcome 1 year after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to assess the feasibility of multivariate path analysis as a way to discover those relationships.DesignProspective, longitudinal.SettingsLevel I trauma center, acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital.PatientsOne hundred seven subjects (87 men, 20 women; mean age, 33.91 +/- 14.2 yr) who had experienced severe TBI, typically from motor vehicle crashes.InterventionsAcute medical and rehabilitation care.Main Outcome MeasuresDisability Rating Scale, Community Integration Questionnaire, and return to employment. Evaluated in acute rehabilitation, and at 6 and 12 months' postinjury.ResultsPath analyses revealed that premorbid factors had significant relationships with injury severity, functional skills, cognitive status, and outcome; injury severity affected cognitive and functional skills; and cognitive status influenced outcome. No significant relationships were found between injury severity and emotional status, injury severity and outcome, emotional status and outcome, and functional skills and outcome.ConclusionsMultivariate analysis is important to understanding outcome after TBI. Injury severity, as measured in this study, is less important to 12-month outcome than the premorbid status of the person and the difficulties (particularly cognitive deficits) exhibited at follow-up 6 months after the trauma.

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