Objective: To describe the design and operations of the South Carolina Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Follow-up Registry.
Design: Statewide prospective cohort study.
Setting: State of South Carolina.
Participants: 2118 persons discharged from acute care hospitals after experiencing TBI.
Intervention: Telephone interviews.
Main Outcome Measures: Service needs, alcohol and drug use, psychosocial health, health-related quality of life, functional status, symptoms of TBI, employment, global life satisfaction, and death.
Results: Selected initial and 1-year follow-up findings concerning demographic, insurance status, income, and employment factors.
Conclusions: Population-based outcome studies that describe longer term problems associated with TBI, the need for services, and estimated disability could be useful to inform public policy.