IQ levels following trauma.

: One hundred fifteen consecutive trauma patients who experienced a head injury and were administered a Wechsler Intelligence Scale as outpatients were selected for study from the Neuropsychology Registry. These patients ranged in age from 4 to 61 years. At the time of examination, all were living at home with their families. Dividing this group of patients on the basis of a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 10 revealed significant differences in group mean post-traumatic IQs. The more severely injured group of patients had a mean post-traumatic IQ of 93.6; the less severely injured patients had a mean IQ of 103.5. The difference between these two groups is significant (p less than 0.005). When divided on the basis of a GCS of 13, the more severely injured group of patients had a mean post-traumatic IQ of 94.2 and the less severely injured group of patients had a mean post-traumatic IQ of 104.2. The difference between these two groups is also statistically significant (p less than 0.0005). There was no statistically significant (p greater than 0.05) difference in the mean post-traumatic IQs of these patients divided on the basis of an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 15. However, there was a significant difference (p less than 0.05) when the patients were divided at ISS of 17. The less severely injured patients had a mean post-traumatic IQ of 101.2 and the more severely injured patients had a mean post-traumatic IQ of 95.8. The difference between these two groups is statistically significant (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)