Objective: To obtain a comprehensive understanding of long-term outcome after severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI).
Participants: Forty-six patients with sTBI.
Design: Comparison of interdisciplinary evaluation results at discharge from acute care and at 2 to 5 year follow-up.
Main measures: Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale, the FIM instrument, and the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale-Revised.
Results: Significant improvement was observed on the FIM instrument, the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale, and on 3 factors of the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale-Revised. These measures at discharge were significant predictors of outcome.
Conclusion: Patients with sTBI 2 to 5 years postinjury showed relatively good physical and functional outcome but poorer cognitive and emotional outcome.