• Cathy Catroppa, Vicki A Anderson, Sue A Morse, Flora Haritou, and Jeffrey V Rosenfeld.
• Department of Psychology, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. catroppc@tpg.com.au
• J Pediatr Psychol. 2008 Aug 1;33(7):707-18.

ObjectivesThe aim was to examine functional outcomes following traumatic brain injury (TBI) during early childhood, to investigate impairments up to 5 years postinjury and identify predictors of outcome.MethodsThe study compared three groups of children (mild = 11, moderate = 22, severe = 15), aged 2.0-6.11 years at injury, to a healthy control group (n = 17). Using a prospective, longitudinal design, adaptive abilities, behavior, and family functioning were investigated acutely, 6, 30 months and 5 years postinjury, with educational progress investigated at 30 months and 5 years postinjury.ResultsA strong association was suggested between injury severity and outcomes across all domains. Further, 5-year outcomes in adaptive and behavioral domains were best predicted by preinjury levels of child function, and educational performance by injury severity.ConclusionChildren who sustain a severe TBI in early childhood are at greatest risk of long-term impairment in day-to-day skills in the long-term postinjury.

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