Neiva is the capital of the Department of Huila. It is located in the valley of the Magdalena River in south central Colombia with a population of about 357,392 inhabitants. It is one of the most important cities in southern Colombia, mainly because of its strategic geographical location.

A sample of 109 people with a new TBI was recruited from three hospitals in Mexico City, Mexico, and in Cali and Neiva, Colombia. Participants completed measures of cognitive dysfunction and social disadaptation before hospital discharge and measures of depression at baseline, 2 months, and 4 months.

Results suggested that depression scores were found to decrease over time in a quadratic (or U-shaped) fashion, and more significant cognitive dysfunction at hospital discharge was associated with higher longitudinal depression trajectories. Social disadaptation did not exert a unique effect on depression trajectories after controlling for cognitive dysfunction. Depression trajectories changed differentially over time as a function of baseline cognitive dysfunction, such that for those with high cognitive impairment, depression scores started high and then dropped to a moderated range and plateaued, but for individuals with low cognitive dysfunction, depression scores started lower and decreased linearly but moderately.

The results suggest a strong need for neuropsychological assessments and evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation strategies to be implemented immediately after TBI in Latin America, which could exert salubrious effects on depression trajectories over time ¹⁾.