Even minor brain injuries can affect the ability to be gainfully employed in the long term.
Traumatic Brain Injury Can Lead to Higher Probability of Work Disability
Even minor brain injuries can affect the ability to be gainfully employed in the long term.
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People affected by traumatic brain injury( TBI) have an increased risk of work disability that can recur even years after the injury, regardless of its severity. This has been shown in a new national registry study from Uppsala University in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet( KI) and is based on close to 100,000 people with a traumatic brain injury.
TBI is caused by trauma to the head and can happen when a person falls or is in a traffic accident, for example. In the current study, the researchers investigated the relationship between TBI and work disability( sickness absence and disability pension or activity compensation).
“ The results indicate that people who suffer from a traumatic brain injury often have lasting difficulties. Even minor injuries can affect their ability to be gainfully employed in the long term. People who have difficulty returning to work after a traumatic brain injury may need long-term, multidisciplinary care, where medical, psychiatric, social and work-related factors are assessed in combination,” says Elham Rostami, specialist in neurosurgery and the responsible researcher.
Based on data from close to 100,000 people living in Sweden The study included nearly 100,000 people who had suffered a TBI and nearly one million people who had not suffered a TBI. The follow-up period was for up to five years.