Five-year outcome after mild head injury: a prospective controlled study.
OBJECTIVE
To study the prevalence of post-concussion symptoms (PCS) 5-7 years after mild head injury (MHI) and to investigate whether patients suffer from more symptoms than the normal population.


METHODS
We conducted a 5- to 7-year follow-up of patients (n = 89) with MHI. Post-concussion symptoms were quantified with the Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) and health-related quality of life (HRQL) was measured with the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D). We also quantified subjective general health state with the EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS). An age- and sex-matched, but otherwise randomly chosen control group of 89 persons was recruited from the National Population Registry for a cross-sectional comparison. Twenty-eight patients (30%) and 27 (30%) controls responded.


RESULTS
Patients reported significantly (P = 0.017) more PCS (median RPQ score 10, 95% CI 2-20) than controls (median 2, 95% CI 0-4). They also reported significantly (P = 0.008) lower HRQL (median EQ-5D score 0.866, 95% CI 0.796-1.000) than controls (1.000, 95% CI 1.000-1.000), but there was no difference between the groups in their subjective ratings of general health state.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients reported significantly more PCS and lower HRQL 5 to 7 years after MHI than age- and sex-matched controls from the normal population.
Jakola
A S
AS
Faculty of Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
Müller
K
K
Larsen
M
M
Waterloo
K
K
Romner
B
B
Ingebrigtsen
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013995:Time; D013997:Time Factors