Socio-Economic Status and Post-Trauma Intelligence in Children with Severe Head Injuries

Abstract

Study of 46 severely head-injured children suggests that the degree of intellectual recovery post-trauma is best predicted by the age at injury. These younger children generally fared less well than older children. However, socio-economic affiliation also was a determining factor. The majority of younger children were from the lower socio-economic class and proportionately more younger than older children of lower-class affiliation functioned at the subnormal level. In contrast, for the middle-class group proportionally as many younger as older children functioned at the subnormal level.