title: Return to driving within 5 years of moderate-severe traumatic brain injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine return to driving and variables associated with that activity in a longitudinal database.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of a large, national database.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was comprised of people with predominantly moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) enrolled in the TBI Model System national database at 16 centres and followed at 1 (n = 5942), 2 (n = 4628) and 5 (n = 2324) years after injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents were classified as driving or not driving at each follow-up interval. Five years after injury, half the sample had returned to driving. Those with less severe injuries were quicker to return to driving, but, by 5 years, severity was not a factor. Those who were driving expressed a higher life satisfaction. Functional status at rehabilitation discharge, age at injury, race, pre-injury residence, pre-injury employment status and education level were associated with the odds of a person driving.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Half of those with a moderate-severe TBI return to driving within 5 years and most of those within 1 year of injury. Driving is associated with increased life satisfaction. There are multiple factors that contribute to return to driving that do not relate to actual driving ability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA. novack@uab.edu
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Novack
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Labbe
authors.forename: Miranda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grote
authors.forename: Nichole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sherer
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Arango-Lasprilla
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bushnik
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cifu
authors.forename: Janet M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ripley
authors.forename: Ronald T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Seel
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000577:Amides; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology; D052117:Benzodioxoles; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices
chemical_list: D000577:Amides; D052117:Benzodioxoles; C454279:retrofractamide A