Employment after traumatic brain injury: differences between men and women.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether there are sex differences in employment 1 year after traumatic brain injury.


METHODS
Prospective cohort.


METHODS
Acute care hospitals in South Carolina and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) rehabilitation centers.


METHODS
Subjects in the TBIMS national dataset and the South Carolina Traumatic Brain Injury Follow-up Registry who were expected to be working before injury and followed at 1 year postinjury.


METHODS
Not applicable.


METHODS
Change in employment from preinjury to 1 year postinjury.


RESULTS
When other measured influences on change in hours worked were held constant, there were significant interactions for sex by age and sex by marital status. Compared with men, women were more likely to decrease hours or stop working, except in the oldest age group (55-64y) in which men were more likely to stop working. For women, there was a pattern showing better employment outcomes as age increased. Decreased employment for women was most evident for married women, who were much more likely to reduce hours or stop working. There was also a tendency for divorced women to be more likely to stop working when compared with divorced men.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings run counter to the current literature. Although definitive explanations must await future studies, causal factors arising from differential societal behavior toward women as well as discriminatory attitudes about women and employment deserve further study.
Corrigan
John D
JD
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Lineberry
Lee A
LA
Komaroff
Eugene
E
Langlois
Jean A
JA
Selassie
Anbesaw W
AW
Wood
Kenneth D
KD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013022:South Carolina