Outcomes of multidisciplinary cognitive and social communication traumatic brain injury rehabilitation in Qatar: a retrospective cohort study

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often leads to long-term social and cognitive dysfunction, and even more so in Arabic-speaking communities due to the lack of culturally appropriate rehabilitation programs. This study examines the efficacy of a structured multidisciplinary cognitive-social rehabilitation program on cognitive functioning, communication, and vocational reintegration in TBI patients in Qatar. Retrospective analysis was performed on clinical data of TBI patients 15–65 years old admitted to the Adult Day Rehabilitation Unit, Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, from January 2022 to December 2024. All the participants had cognitive and communication impairment and were treated with a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program consisting of individualized speech-language therapy and occupational therapy. Outcome measures included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) of cognitive function, Functional Communication Measures (FCMs) of social interaction and communication, “the Ability to participate in social roles and activities (Neuro-QoL short form),” and the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) of global functional status and return-to-work or school. The measures were assessed at baseline, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up. Post-rehabilitation evaluations reported improvement in all areas of outcome. Participants showed greater improvements in MoCA (+4.3 vs + 1.3, p < .001), FIM (+14.45 vs + 5.1, p < .002), the Neuro-QoL scores improved by (+11.23 points), and FCMs (+7.0 vs + 2.2, p < .001) pre and post program. Return-to-work was achieved in 68.8%. Effect sizes were large (Cohen’s d > 1.0). The results suggest the effectiveness of combined cognitive-social rehabilitation for TBI patients, emphasizing concurrent speech and occupational therapist intervention benefits. The intervention also demonstrated functional improvement in daily life, supporting the significance of multidisciplinary interventions to recovery and social reintegration after TBI.