Return to Work and QOL Following TBI. Impact of Rehabilitation Service.

The proportion of patients who return to work after surviving severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been estimated in number of studies but results do not agree.This may be due to complex interaction between many factors, including available rehabilitation services.

In Denmark rehabilitation services vary been regions and municipalities. Hospital based rehabilitation is organized by the regions. Rehabilitation outside the hospitals is organized by the municipalities

The first purpose of this study is to investigate a possible link between centralized hospital based rehabilitation and better return to work / quality of life.

The second purpose is to investigate whether municipality size affects quality of life and return to work after severe TBI.

Data on return to work are derived from a national register on labor market attachment. Data on quality of life are derived from a questionnaire.

The study population is identified from the Danish Head Trauma Database. The completeness and accuracy of the database will be investigated as the first part of the project.