Implementation of a Professional Version of the Multiple Errands Test in Vocational Rehabilitation: Can It Complement Traditional Cognitive Assessment After Traumatic Brain Injury and Predict Return to Work?

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the sensitivity and ecological contribution of the Multiple Errands Test in a Professional Setting, a vocationally oriented executive function assessment, after traumatic brain injury (TBI), and explore its association with return to work (RTW).

SETTING

A Swiss neurorehabilitation center with an integrated vocational rehabilitation workshop.

PARTICIPANTS

Fifty adults with TBI undergoing return-to-work rehabilitation and 40 control participants without brain lesions.

DESIGN

Single-center prospective psychometric study with retrospective use of previously collected data.

MAIN MEASURES: Multiple Errands Test in a Professional Setting error scores, conventional executive and attentional tests, a clinic-adapted Multiple Errands Test, and RTW at 12 months.

RESULTS

Participants with TBI made significantly more rule-breaking, inefficiency, partial-realization, interpretation, and judgment errors than controls. Overall, 82% of participants with TBI failed at least one Multiple Errands Test in a Professional Setting measure, including more than 70% who succeeded on conventional executive or attentional assessments. Concordance with traditional assessment was statistically significant for total and attentional assessment but low. Multiple Errands Test in a Professional Setting performance had limited predictive value for RTW, whereas attentional impairment showed a stronger association with work status.

CONCLUSION

Multiple Errands Test in a Professional Setting detects work-relevant executive difficulties often missed by standard tests and may support individualized vocational rehabilitation planning after TBI when interpreted within a broader clinical functional assessment framework.