Citation

von Steinbuechel N, Wilson L, Gibbons H, Hawthorne G, Höfer S, Schmidt S, Bullinger M, Maas A, Neugebauer E, Powell J, von Wild KRH, Zitnay G, Bakx W, Christensen AL, Koskinen S, Formisano R, Sarajuuri J, Sasse N, Truelle JL. J. Neurotrauma 2010; 27(7): 1157-1165.

Affiliation

University Medical Center Goettingen, Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Goettingen, Germany; nvsteinbuechel@med.uni-goettingen.de.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/neu.2009.1077

PMID

20210602

Abstract

The QOLIBRI (Quality of Life after Brain Injury) is a novel health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instrument specifically developed for traumatic brain injury (TBI). It provides a profile of HRQoL in six domains together with an overall score. Scale validity and factors associated with HRQoL were investigated in a multi-centre international study. A total of 795 adults with brain injury were studied between 3 months to 15 years post-injury. The majority of participants (58%) had severe injuries as assessed by 24-hour worst GCS. Systematic relationships were observed between the QOLIBRI and the GOSE, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and SF-36. Within each scale patients with disability reported having low HRQoL in two to three times as many areas as those who had made a good recovery. The main correlates of the total QOLIBRI score were emotional state (HADS depression and anxiety), functional status (amount of help needed and outcome on the GOSE), and comorbid health conditions. Together these five variables accounted for 58% of the variance in total QOLIBRI scores. The QOLIBRI is the first tool developed to assess disease-specific HRQoL in brain injury, and it contains novel information not given by other currently available assessments.

Language: en