Return to Work after a MTBI
A review of the literature indicated the lack of information available concerning the subjective symptomatology reported more than one year after a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). The present study is aimed at examining if, over the total amount of symptoms reported following an MTBI, it is possible to identify the symptoms that distinguish the subjects depending on whether they go back or not to their professional activities. On the other hand, it is aimed at exploring the re-entry of professional activities and its prediction factors. This research was conceived with a subjective evaluation questionnaire used to draw up the inventory of post-MTBI symptoms. Eighty-five MTBI subjects between 16 and 65 years of age participated in this research. As expected, the results showed that the majority of individuals have gone back to their professional activities one year or more after the MTBI. Those who did not return to work had reported the largest amount of symptoms. Furthermore, the results showed that there exist symptoms that distinguish the participants having gone back to their professional activities with those who had not done so. Among the ensemble of socio-demographic variables (age and gender), neurological (Glasgow coma scale result, duration of post-traumatic and retrograde amnesia), and clinical (time spent since the MTBI and symptomatology), only the total amount of symptoms reported at the time of the telephonic follow-up permits predicting the re-entry to professional activities. The results are discussed in light of the much-debated origin of the post-MTBI symptomatology and the possible clinical orientations.