Citation

von Steinbuechel N, Meeuwsen M, Zeldovich M, Vester JC, Maas A, Koskinen S, Covic A. J. Neurotrauma 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen Universitatsmedizin, 84922, Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Waldweg 37A, Gottingen, Niedersachsen, Germany, 37073; amra.covic@med.uni-goettingen.de.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/neu.2019.6627

PMID

31801408

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Factors associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients after TBI include severity of initial injury, different grades of trauma recovery, sociodemographic status and psychological characteristics. Yet, sensitivity of HRQOL instruments to such effects is often underexplored. Thus, we aimed to compare the capacity of the disease-specific instrument QOLIBRI (Quality of Life after Brain Injury) and the generic SF (Short Form)-36 to detect significant differences in HRQOL between patients.

METHODS: Patients (N = 795) completed HRQOL, sociodemographic, clinical, psychological and health status questionnaires. Univariate (Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney) and multivariate (Wei-Lachin) non-parametric analyses were conducted using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney approach to compare the sensitivity of the QOLIBRI and the SF-36.

RESULTS: For both instruments, HRQOL was particularly influenced by patients' reliance on others, depression, anxiety, and recovery status, whilst smaller effects were found for living arrangements and participation in leisure activities. Both HRQOL instruments were sensitive to group differences, but the QOLIBRI was able to detect a greater number of and finer differences between specific patient groups, which is particularly important in clinical and therapeutic contexts. This finding is likely explained by the QOLIBRI's greater specificity to disease-specific aspects of consequences of TBI.

CONCLUSION: This head-to-head HRQOL instrument comparison resulted in a recommendation for the use of the QOLIBRI when detailed insight in the subjective consequences and impact of TBI on patients is required.

Language: en

Keywords

NEUROPSYCHOLOGY; OUTCOME MEASURES; TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY