Education is Key in Recovery for Brain Injuries

A recent study shows that education may play a critical role in the recovery of those who suffered from moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries.

"After these types of injuries, some people are disabled for life and are never able to go back to work, while other people who have similar injuries recover fully," study author Eric B. Schneider, PhD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, said in a news release. "We understand some factors that lead to these differences, but we can't explain all of the variation. These results may provide another piece of the puzzle."

For the study, researchers examined 769 people at least 23 years old who had been followed for at least a year after their injury, with all participants grouped by education level.

Findings showed that around 28 percent of participants suffered no disability and were actually able to return to school or work, while 10 percent of the same individuals were of those who did not complete high school. However, findings also showed that 31 percent with some college education and 49 percent with college degrees were able to make a full recovery.

"People with education equal to a college degree were more than seven times more likely to fully recover from their injury than people who did not finish high school," Schneider said, via the release. "And people with some college education were nearly five times more likely to fully recover than those without enough education to earn a high school diploma. We need to learn more about how education helps to protect the brain and how it affects injury and resilience. Exploring these relationships will hopefully help us to identify ways to help people recover better from traumatic brain injury."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Neurology.