Utilizing neuropsychological measures to predict vocational outcome in a head trauma population

Abstract

The present study examined the ability of traditional neuropsychological measures to predict successful vocational training in a severely neurologically impaired population. Eighty head trauma patients were evaluated prior to pre-vocational training which involved cognitive remediation and psychosocially-based intervention. Subjects were approximately 2 years post-injury. Results showed that of the total population studies, 73.8% participated in vocational evaluations, 23.8% did not, and 2.4% of the sample returned to work or college. Neuropsychological assessments were over 77% accurate in predicting whether subjects would successfully complete this vocational evaluation. The most significant predictors were reading comprehension, immediate and delayed verbal memory, level of depression, and dysphasic symptomatology. Issues relating to generalizability of cognitive retraining to the vocational evaluation and/or vocational training setting are discussed. Future considerations for both clinical practice and research include the use of ecologically valid measures.