A multidisciplinary TBI inpatient rehabilitation programme for active duty service members as part of a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE

To design and describe an effective rehabilitation programme for use in an ongoing trial on the efficacy of multidisciplinary brain injury rehabilitation for moderately head injury military service members.

DESIGN

Treatment arm of a randomized control trial.

SETTING

US military tertiary care hospital inpatient rehabilitation programme.

PATIENTS: Sixty seven active duty military with moderate to severe TBI who were randomized to the treatment arm of the protocol.

INTERVENTION: Eight week rehabilitation programme combining group and individual therapies with an inpatient milieu-oriented neuropsychological focus. Group therapies included fitness, planning and organization, cognitive skills, work skills, medication, and milieu groups, and community re-entry outings. Individual therapy included neuropsychology, work therapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language pathology.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Successful return to work and return to duty.

RESULTS

At 1 year follow-up, 64 patients returned to work (96%) and 66% (44/67) returned to duty.

CONCLUSION

The described rehabilitation programme demonstrates one successful effort to rehabilitate active duty military service members with TBI who have the potential to return to duty.