Quality of Life Level in the Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury

Park, Joon Soon; Rho, Seung Ho

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the quality of life(QOL) In the patients with traumatic brain injury(TBI), in view of the global, psychosocial and neurobehavioral aspects of QOL. Thirty-one patients with TBI and corresponding matched controls were rated with a global measure(Quality of Life-Index, QL-Index), a psychosocial measure(Sickness Impact Profile ; SIP), and a self-rating(Head Injury Symptom Checklist: HISCL) and an objective symptom scales(Neurobehavioral Rating Scale, NRS). The results were as follows: 1) There were significant differences between the TBI and the control groups in the level of QOL measured by all scales(p<0.01). 2) On QL-Index, the decrement of QOL was 67.4+/-19.2 in TBI group, and 8.1+/-6.4 in control group. In TBI group, the severity of impairment was highest in activity(involvement in own occupation)', and the following items were 'Outlook in Life', 'Perception of own Health', 'Activities of Daily Living', and 'Support of Family and Friends' in decreasing order of severity. 3) On SIP, the degree of psychosocial dysfunction was 67.2+/-20.1 in TBI group, and 8.5 +/-6.9 in control group. In TBI group, the impairment was highest in 'Work' and the following items were 'Home Management' and 'Social Interaction', with 'Body Care and Movement' and 'Eating' the lowest. 4) On HISCL the severity of subjective symptoms of TBI patients was highest in 'Memory', and the next were 'Concentration' and 'Home sensitivity' and the lowest were 'Light sensitivity' and 'Insomnia' 5) On NRS, the severity of objective symptoms of TBI patients was highest in 'Somatic concern', 'Depressive mood', and 'Anxiety' in decreasing order. Among the flour factors of HRS, the severity of impairment was highest in Factor III (Somatic/Anxiety), and the next were Factor I(Cognition/Energy), Factor II(Metacognition), and Factor IV(Language). 6) There was significant correlation among the total scores of all the above scales in the patients with TBl(p<0.01).