Citation

Gormley M, Devanaboyina M, Andelic N, Røe C, Seel RT, Lu J. Brain Inj. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, Virginia Commonwealth University , Richmond , VA , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02699052.2019.1658222

PMID

31454278

Abstract

Background: Returning to employment following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (msTBI) is critical for a survivor's well-being, yet currently there are no systematic reviews that comprehensively describe employment outcomes following msTBI. The objective of this study was to systematically synthesize literature on employment outcomes following msTBI. Methods: Original studies published through April 2018 on MEDLINE/PubMed, PsychINFO, and CINAHL were eligible if the objective was to investigate employment outcomes following msTBI; outcome was measured ≥1 year; participants were ≥15; and size was ≥60. Post-injury employment prevalence and return to pre-injury level of work were summarized through meta-analysis. Results: Of 38 eligible studies, post-injury employment prevalence was most often reported (n = 35), followed by job stability (n = 6), and return to pre-injury level of work (n = 4). Overall post-injury employment prevalence was 42.2%; whereas the return-to-previous-work prevalence was 33.0%. Post-injury employment prevalence appeared to increase over time, from 34.9% at 1 year to 42.1% up to 5 years and 49.9% beyond 5 years. Conclusion: Nearly half of individuals with msTBI were employed post-injury, yet only a third returned to pre-injury level of work. Future researchers are recommended to standardize employment outcome measures to enable better comparison of outcomes across studies.

Language: en

Keywords

RTW; TBI; employment; job stability; long-term outcomes; return to work