The QOLIBRI--towards a quality of life tool after traumatic brain injury: current developments in Asia.
BACKGROUND
There is no disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) tool devoted to traumatic brain injury (TBI).


METHODS
Over 1500 TBI patients from 10 countries filled out a preliminary version of the QOLIBRI taking TBI specificities into account. 3 successive versions and consecutive statistical analyses were necessary to get a psychometrically-reliable tool.


RESULTS
The QOLIBRI final version, filled out in 15 min, consists of 2 parts. The first part assesses satisfaction with HRQoL and is composed of 6 overall items and 29 items allocated to 4 subscales: thinking, feelings, autonomy and social aspects. The second part, devoted to "bothered" questions, is composed of 12 items in 2 subscales: negative feelings and restrictions. The 6 subscales meet standard psychometric criteria. In addition, 2 items evaluate medical-oriented aspects. The questionnaire is validated in German, Finnish, Italian, French, English, Dutch.


CONCLUSIONS
TBI patients may now be assessed, beyond more "objective" measures including handicap and recovery, with a new measure of assessing the TBI patient's own opinion on his/her HRQoL, applicable across different populations and cultures. Validations in China Mainland, Hong-Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Egypt, Poland, Norway, Indonesia, and Malaya are on the way.
Truelle
J L
JL
Service de médecine physique et de réadaptation Centre hospitalo-universitaire, Garches, France. jean-luc.truelle@wanadoo.fr
von Wild
K
K
Höfer
S
S
Neugebauer
E
E
Lischetzke
T
T
von Steinbüchel
N
N
D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007391:International Cooperation; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires