title: Clinical Utility and Psychometric Properties of the Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life Scale (TBI-QOL) in US Military Service Members.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the clinical utility and psychometric properties of the Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) scale in a US military population.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred fifty-two US military service members (age: M = 34.3, SD = 9.4; 89.5% men) prospectively enrolled from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and other nationwide community outreach initiatives. Participants included 99 service members who had sustained a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 53 injured or noninjured controls without TBI (n = 29 and n = 24, respectively).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants completed the TBI-QOL scale and 5 other behavioral measures, on average, 33.8 months postinjury (SD = 37.9).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen TBI-QOL subscales; Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian version; Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; Combat Exposure Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The internal consistency reliability of the TBI-QOL scales ranged from α = .91 to α = .98. The convergent and discriminant validity of the 14 TBI-QOL subscales was high. The mild TBI group had significantly worse scores on 10 of the 14 TBI-QOL subscales than the control group (range, P < .001 to P = .043). Effect sizes ranged from medium to very large (d = 0.35 to d = 1.13). The largest differences were found on the Cognition-General Concerns (d = 1.13), Executive Function (d = 0.94), Grief-Loss (d = 0.88), Pain Interference (d = 0.83), and Headache Pain (d = 0.83) subscales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results support the use of the TBI-QOL scale as a measure of health-related quality of life in a mild TBI military sample. Additional research is recommended to further evaluate the clinical utility of the TBI-QOL scale in both military and civilian settings.
authors.affiliation: Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Bethesda, Maryland (Drs Lange, Brickell, Bailie, and French); Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland (Drs Lange, Brickell, and French); University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Dr Lange); Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland (Drs Brickell and French); Department of Physical Therapy and Center on Assessment Research and Translation, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware (Dr Tulsky); Kessler Foundation Research Center, West Orange, New Jersey (Dr Tulsky); Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland (Drs Lange, Brickell, and French); Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California (Dr Bailie).
authors.forename: Rael T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Tracey A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Brickell
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bailie
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Tulsky
authors.forename: Louis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: French
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014481:United States