Employment Following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: The Utility of the Individual Ability Profile System (IAP)

The results of a survey of employment outcome and their relationship to psychometric indices indicated that competitive employment following severe traumatic brain injury is an ambitious endeavor. While 98% of the subjects sampled were either employed or in school premorbidly, 43% of the subjects were unemployed postinjury. Specifically, the Individual Ability Profile (IAP) (Dean, 1982 and Dean, 1983) variables developed to assist in the clinical interpretation of the results of the WAIS-R were most highly related to employment outcome. A discriminant function analysis utilizing these variables yielded hit rates of 82% for the unemployed category and 92% for the full-time employment grouping. These results further highlighted the useful role of neuropsychological testing in assisting in vocational rehabilitation planning. Future research is required to further elucidate those neuropsychological abilities that subsequently affect employability following severe traumatic brain injury. © 1997 National Academy of Neuropsychology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd