BACKGROUND: Outcome after childhood traumatic brain injury (CTBI) is heterogeneous, with several predictors influencing long-term outcome. METHOD: This exploratory study used person-oriented cluster analysis to investigate individual profiles of medical, psychological and social predictors and their relation to longitudinal development in a sample of 127 participants with mild, moderate and severe CTBI. Outcome of cognitive, adaptive and academic function was measured at 30 months and 10 years post-injury. RESULTS: A nine-cluster solution, explaining 67% of the variance in the sample, resulted in two clusters with individuals with mostly mild injuries, five with mostly moderate injured individuals and two clusters with severely injured individuals. Best outcome at 10 years post-injury had a cluster with individuals with moderate injuries, young age at injury, average socioeconomic status (SES) and high pre-injury adaptive function. Worst outcome had a small cluster with severely injured individuals, young age at injury, average SES and average pre-injury adaptive function. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that pre-injury adaptive function is an influential predictor of outcome following moderate CTBI. Age at injury in the severe group appears to have increased influence over time, with younger age at injury associated with reduced outcome at 10 years after severe CTBI.
BACKGROUND: Outcome after childhood traumatic brain injury (CTBI) is heterogeneous, with several predictors influencing long-term outcome. METHOD: This exploratory study used person-oriented cluster analysis to investigate individual profiles of medical, psychological and social predictors and their relation to longitudinal development in a sample of 127 participants with mild, moderate and severe CTBI. Outcome of cognitive, adaptive and academic function was measured at 30 months and 10 years post-injury. RESULTS: A nine-cluster solution, explaining 67% of the variance in the sample, resulted in two clusters with individuals with mostly mild injuries, five with mostly moderate injured individuals and two clusters with severely injured individuals. Best outcome at 10 years post-injury had a cluster with individuals with moderate injuries, young age at injury, average socioeconomic status (SES) and high pre-injury adaptive function. Worst outcome had a small cluster with severely injured individuals, young age at injury, average SES and average pre-injury adaptive function. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that pre-injury adaptive function is an influential predictor of outcome following moderate CTBI. Age at injury in the severe group appears to have increased influence over time, with younger age at injury associated with reduced outcome at 10 years after severe CTBI.