(191) The Relationship between Demographic and Injury-Related Factors and Return to Driving following Holistic Milieu-Oriented Neurorehabilitation

Objective: Return to driving (RTD) following an acquired brain injury (ABI) positively impacts an individual’s productivity, quality of life, and community re-integration. Research illustrates that the return to driving is a complex process influenced by personal, cognitive, psychological, medical, neurological, and environmental factors. This study examined the association between demographic and injury factors and RTD at discharge following intensive neurorehabilitation.

Method: This retrospective study analyzed the medical records of 178 individuals with heterogeneous acquired brain injuries who participated in a holistic milieu-oriented outpatient neurorehabilitation program from 2012 to 2022. Demographic information (age, education, race/ethnicity), injury history (injury type, age at injury, chronicity), program participation variables (length of program participation, age at participation), and driving status at discharge were collected.

Results: Individuals with more chronic injuries were less likely to present with a RTD goal at admission, (p = .004). 71% (N = 88) of individuals met their RTD goal by discharge. There was no significant relationship between age at injury, age at admission, chronicity, days in treatment, or education and successful RTD at discharge. Type of brain injury (traumatic brain injury, stroke, or other [i.e., anoxia, seizure, and infection]), gender, and race/ethnicity were not related to successful RTD at discharge.

Conclusions: The majority of ABI survivors met their RTD goal at discharge. Findings illustrate that the holistic milieu-oriented treatment approach is effective with regard to addressing RTD goals across a variety of brain injury etiologies, demographics factors, and injury variables.