Childhood socioeconomic status predicts cognitive outcomes across adulthood following traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and the level and rate of change in intelligence scores throughout adulthood following traumatic brain injury (TBI).


METHODS
In this longitudinal study we tested 186 patients with TBI and 54 healthy controls from the Vietnam Head Injury Study. Childhood SES was determined for each participant based on parental educational attainment and occupational prestige. General intelligence was initially assessed pre-injury upon induction into the military, and again 15, 35 and 40+ years post-injury. We examined whether childhood SES, total brain volume loss and lesion laterality can predict post-injury intelligence scores and the rate of change in those scores between study phases.


RESULTS
For both participants with and without TBI, childhood SES accounted for a significant portion of the variance in intelligence scores pre-injury and in all three post-injury evaluations, however, it was not associated with the rate of cognitive change. Lastly, childhood SES predicted cognitive outcome among patients with left hemisphere damage better than it did for right hemisphere damage patients.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings provide the first evidence indicating the persistent effects of childhood SES on intelligence scores later in adulthood following a TBI. Childhood SES should be considered when predicting and assessing cognitive recovery following TBI, even when the injury occurred in adulthood.
['Cohen-Zimerman|Shira|S|', 'Kachian|Zachary R|ZR|', 'Krueger|Frank|F|', 'Gordon|Barry|B|', 'Grafman|Jordan|J|']
D001921:Brain D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic D007839:Functional Laterality D006801:Humans D007360:Intelligence D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D011581:Psychological Tests D012923:Social Class
Socioeconomic status Traumatic brain injury Intelligence Longitudinal study