Functional status 1 year after severe childhood traumatic brain injury predicts 7-year outcome: Results of the TGE study

•Childhood severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) has a long-term impact on morbidity and functional deficits.•About 50% of childhood severe TBI survivors exhibit substantial disability at 7 years after severe TBI.•Socio-behavioural and cognitive deficits are the most common long-lasting sequelae.•Long-term outcome is poorly predicted by early clinical factors / injury severity.•Functional impairments at 1 year after TBI strongly predicts disability at 7 years. Childhood severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of long-lasting acquired disability, but predicting long-term functional outcome remains difficult. This study aimed to 1) describe the functional outcome at 1 and 7 years post-TBI; 2) determine the initial and concurrent factors associated with long-term outcome; and 3) evaluate the predictive value of functional status, overall disability level and intellectual ability measured at 1 year post-injury to determine 7-year clinically meaningful outcomes. Among the children (