Developing a model of return to school: A Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems study

ABSTRACT

Objective

A common goal for those recovering from moderate to severe brain injury is to reengage in education or employment. There is significant overlap between the skills relevant for successful job and academic performance in high school and college, and many deficits reported after brain injury are consistent across young adults and adults. This study utilized a return to work (RTW) model framework to develop a model of return to school (RTS).

Method

Days of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA), length of stay (LOS), rehabilitation discharge Disability Rating Scale (DRS) scores, presence of pre-injury learning limitation, and educational level were used to predict RTS one-year post-injury in a student sample (N = 158, 58.8% white, 69.6% male) within the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database.

Results

The overall RTS rate for this sample was 62%. Logistic regression indicated that lower DRS discharge scores and being in high school pre-injury resulted in the best outcome.

Conclusion

Results showed partial support for the translation of RTW factors to a student sample; however, results may also favor the conceptual distinction in RTS versus RTW, which are elaborated. More outreach for college students may improve awareness of disability services, thereby heightening the future return rate.

KEYWORDS:

• Traumatic brain injury
• students
• functional status
• education
• school
• employment

Acknowledgments

The Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model Systems National Database is a multicenter study of the TBI Model Systems Centers Program, and is supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), a center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). However, these contents do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the TBI Model Systems Centers, NIDILRR, ACL or HHS. We would also like to thank Dena Pastor, Ph.D. for her assistance with statistical analyses.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

To request the publicly available data used in this study, the requestor may send an email to [email protected] together with a completed 602df – External TBIMS Data Request Form and 602ae – TBIMS External Data Use Agreement. Both can be found on the TBIMS website at https://www.tbindsc.org/Researchers.aspx.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.