title: Health-related quality of life during the first year after traumatic brain injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To document health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to examine the relationship between TBI severity and HRQOL during the first year after injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four pediatric level I trauma centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children with TBI (n = 330).
  
  
  METHODS
  Traumatic brain injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  A primary caregiver completed telephone interviews at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months to measure the child's HRQOL using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. The HRQOL outcomes were modeled as a function of injury, patient characteristics, and family characteristics using longitudinal, multivariable regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A considerable proportion of children had impaired HRQOL at 3 months (42% of children) and 12 months (40% of children) after injury. Multiple dimensions of HRQOL were negatively affected among children with moderate or severe TBI (decrease of 3.7 to 17.6) (P<.05) and did not improve significantly over time. Concomitant lower extremity fractures and spinal injuries resulted in large declines in overall HRQOL, particularly at 3 months after injury (decrease of 12.9 and 8.1, respectively) (P<.05). The HRQOL scores were also reduced by preexisting psychosocial conditions (decrease of 2.9 to 12.3), impaired family functioning (decrease of 5.1 to 6.8), having Medicaid coverage or being uninsured (decrease of 3.1 to 5.5), and single-parent households (decrease of 3.2 to 3.4) (P<.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Moderate or severe TBI resulted in measurable declines in children's HRQOL after injury. Injury-related factors impacted HRQOL more compared with patient and family characteristics during the first year after injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. mmccarth@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: Ellen J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
authors.forename: Dennis R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Durbin
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Aitken
authors.forename: Kenneth M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Jaffe
authors.forename: Charles N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Paidas
authors.forename: Beth S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Slomine
authors.forename: Andrea M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dorsch
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Ru
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D010290:Parents; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires