Groupings of Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury: A New Approach to Classifying Traumatic Brain Injury in the Post-Acute Period

Objective: To (1) identify groups of persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who differ on 12 dimensions of cognitive function: cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms; personal strengths; physical functioning; environmental supports; and performance validity; and (2) describe patterns of differences among the groups on these dimensions and on participation outcome. Setting: Three centers for rehabilitation of persons with TBI. Participants: A total of 504 persons with TBI living in the community who were an average (standard deviation) of 6.3 (6.8) years postinjury and who had capacity to give consent, could be interviewed and tested in English, and were able to participate in an assessment lasting up to 4 hours. Design: Observational study of a convenience sample of persons with TBI. Main Measures: Selected scales from the Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life measures, Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory, Economic Quality of Life Scale, Family Assessment Device General Functioning Scale, measures of cognitive function, Word Memory Test, and Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective (PART-O) scale. Results: Cluster analysis identified 5 groups of persons with TBI who differed in clinically meaningful ways on the 12 dimension scores and the PART-O scale. Conclusion: Cluster groupings identified in this study could assist clinicians with case conceptualization and treatment planning.