How Might Traumatic Brain Injury Impact Future Employment?

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If you or a loved one has sustained a serious injury, what are the prospects for your future? Medical specialists can offer a reasonable prognosis for certain injuries. But when an injury affects the nervous system, the victim’s potential for recovery is often cloudy. Most mysterious are traumatic injuries to the brain. However, researchers at the Kessler Foundation are determined to understand better how traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims may rebound. They are particularly focused on future employability.

Four co-authors recently published the results of their study of 42 patients who suffered moderate to severe TBI more than a year ago. The article they published is called “Impact of frontal neurobehavioral symptoms on employment in individuals with TBI.” According to the website EurekAlert, the article may “have implications for strategies aimed at improving employment outcomes in this population.”

The subjects underwent neuropsychological evaluation, and researchers evaluated them for depression and fatigue. Researchers used the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale questionnaire to elicit information on subjects’ neurobehavioral symptoms. These include disinhibition, apathy, and executive dysfunction. A term for a range of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. The subjects’ “caregivers also assessed the participants’ behaviors pre- and post-TBI.”

A Link Between Traumatic Brain Injury and Employability

Researchers detected differences between employed and unemployed subjects on tests of neurocognition. They found that “There were significant differences between the groups on neurobehavioral tests.” Thus, there seems to be a link between behavioral symptoms and employment outcomes.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Erica Weber, says the results “indicate that frontal neurobehavioral symptoms may be predictive of the ability to achieve and maintain employment after TBI.” Researchers suggested, “Developing rehabilitative strategies that address these behaviors could improve employment outcomes and reduce the burden of care on caregivers and society.”

At Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers, we look at the study with a slightly different perspective. Certainly, we appreciate the importance of crafting strategies that improve the employment prospects of TBI patients. But, as personal injury attorneys, our job is to secure full and fair compensation for our client’s losses, including future earnings lost because of an inability to maintain employment. If TBI studies such as this can reasonably indicate future employability based on a victim’s symptoms, we might have a useful tool for securing adequate compensation for our clients.

Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers represents traumatic brain injury victims in personal injury lawsuits arising from various accident scenarios. To learn how we can help you or a loved one, call us at (973) 364-8300 or contact our office online.