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Trajectories and associated factors of quality of life, global outcome, and post-concussion symptoms in the first year following mild traumatic brain injury

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the associated factors and change trajectories of quality of life (QoL), global outcome, and post-concussion symptoms (PCS) over the first year following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Methods

This was a prospective longitudinal study of 100 participants with mTBI from neurosurgical outpatient departments in Chiayi County District Hospitals in Taiwan. The checklist of post-concussion syndromes (CPCS) was used to assess PCS at enrollment and at 1, 3, and 12 months after mTBI; the glasgow outcome scale extended (GOSE), the quality of life after brain injured (QOLIBRI), Chinese version, and the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), Taiwan version, were used to assess mTBI global outcome and QoL at 1, 3, and 12 months after mTBI.

Results

Latent class growth models (LCGMs) indicated the change trajectories of QOLIBRI, PCS SF-36, MCS SF-36, GOSE, and PCS. Classes of trajectory were associated with age ≥40 years, unemployment at 1 month after injury, and educational level ≤12 years. Univariate analysis revealed that employment status at 1 month post-injury was correlated with the trajectories of QOLIBRI, PCS SF-36, MCS SF-36, and GOSE, but not PCS.

Conclusions

Employment status was the most crucial associated factor for QoL in individuals with mTBI at the 1-year follow-up. Future studies should explore the benefits of employment on QoL of individuals with mTBI.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge all 100 participants for their time and effort contributed to this study. This research was supported by a Grant from the Administration Center of the Medical Research Department, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan (BMRPB80), to the corresponding author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Ministry of Health and Welfare Sinying Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan

    Chia-Chen Chiang

  2. Department of Nursing and Graduate Institute of Nursing, Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Research Center, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Chiayi, Taiwan

    Su-Er Guo & Bih-O Lee

  3. Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan

    Kuo-Chang Huang

  4. Department of Nursing and Graduate Institute of Nursing, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, 261, Wen-Hua 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuan, 333-03, Taiwan

    Jun-Yu Fan

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  1. Chia-Chen Chiang
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Correspondence to Jun-Yu Fan.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Chiang, CC., Guo, SE., Huang, KC. et al. Trajectories and associated factors of quality of life, global outcome, and post-concussion symptoms in the first year following mild traumatic brain injury. Qual Life Res 25, 2009–2019 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-015-1215-0

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