Identification of rehabilitation problems after head injury.

We have reported a large study of patients admitted to hospital following head injury in the city of Glasgow over one calendar year. This showed 1000 patients still to be disabled one year after their injury. In order to see whether the difficulties reported by these patients represented needs for rehabilitation services, we undertook a parallel study in which a separate group of 26 patients were assessed by the same methods as in the main group, but also had a clinical review by an experienced rehabilitation medicine physician, to determine the patient's rehabilitation needs. The physician was unaware of the results of the first assessment. Both the extent and the nature of the services as needed were reported remarkably similarly by each form of assessment. In addition, the Glasgow Outcome Scale categories were closely related to the need for services. We conclude that the data reported by Thornhill et al. can be used to estimate the volume and type of rehabilitation services required by head injured patients in the early months after injury.