Depression as a Predictor of Long-term Employment Outcomes Among Individuals With Moderate-to-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

OBJECTIVE: To examine the predictive ability of depression when considering long-term employment outcomes for individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI, after controlling for key pre-injury and injury-related variables. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis. SETTING: Community follow-up after discharge from an inpatient rehabilitation center. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals between 18 and 60 years-old with moderate-to-severe TBI enrolled in the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) database. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Employment status. RESULTS: The prevalence of employment at 2 and 5 years post-injury was 40.3% and 44.5%, respectively. Individuals identified at depressed at 1 year were less likely to be employed at 2 years post-injury (OR=1.77; 95% CI: 1.38, 2.27; p