Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 89, Issue 5 , Pages 988-995, May 2008

Racial Differences in Employment Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury

  • Juan Carlos Arango-Lasprilla, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Juan Carlos Arango-Lasprilla, PhD, Dept of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Rehabilitation Psychology and Neuropsychology, School of Medicine, Theater Row Bldg, 730 E Broad St, Richmond, VA 23219
    • ,
  • Jessica M. Ketchum, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
    • ,
  • Kelli Williams, MPH, MS, OTR/L

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
    • ,
  • Jeffrey S. Kreutzer, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
    • ,
  • Carlos D. Marquez de la Plata, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
    • ,
  • Therese M. O'Neil-Pirozzi, ScD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
    • Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
    • ,
  • Paul Wehman, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Abstract 

Arango-Lasprilla JC, Ketchum JM, Williams K, Kreutzer JS, Marquez de la Plata CD, O'Neil-Pirozzi TM, Wehman P. Racial differences in employment outcomes after traumatic brain injury.

Objective

To examine racial differences in employment status and occupational status 1 year after a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Design

Retrospective study.

Setting

Longitudinal dataset of the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems national database.

Participants

Subjects with primarily moderate to severe TBI (3468 whites vs 1791 minorities) hospitalized between 1989 and 2005.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures

Employment status (competitively employed or unemployed) and occupational status (professional/managerial, skilled, or manual labor) at 1 year postinjury.

Results

Race and/or ethnicity has a significant effect on employment status at 1 year postinjury (=58.23, P<.001), after adjusting for preinjury employment status, sex, Disability Rating Scale at discharge, marital status, cause of injury, age, and education. The adjusted odds of being unemployed versus competitively employed are 2.17 times (95% confidence interval, 1.78–2.65) greater for minorities than for whites. Race and ethnicity does not have a significant effect on occupational status at 1 year postinjury.

Conclusions

With this empirical evidence supporting racial differences in employment outcomes between minorities and whites at 1 year postinjury, priority should be given to tailoring interventions to maximize minority survivors' work-related productivity.

Key Words: Brain injuries, Employment, Outcomes research, Race, Rehabilitation

 

 Supported by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education (grant nos. H133A020516, HI33B040011).No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.

PII: S0003-9993(08)00133-0

doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2008.02.012

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 89, Issue 5 , Pages 988-995, May 2008

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