Long-term functional health status of severely injured patients

Improved and standardized method for assessing years lived with disability after injury

“…The functional consequences of an injury vary widely according to the location, type and severity of the injury. In general, injuries to the head, spine and lower extremities have the largest impact on health-related quality of life 13,[15][16][17][18] and patients with fractures of the lower extremities (particularly hip fractures) suffer from more severe consequences than patients with other lower-extremity injuries. 13,16,19 Compared with the injury severity scores -such as the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and Injury Severity Score (ISS) -that were developed to predict short-term death risks, injury location and type are better predictors of the functional consequences of an injury.…”

Predicting the long-term impact of acquired severe injuries on functional health status: the role of optimism, emotional distress and pain

“…Psychometric properties of the SIP are generally very good, 12 and the instrument has been used in a broad range of studies, including studies of consecutive trauma patients or groups with single diagnoses such as SCI. 2 …”

“…In order to assess the influence of injury/disease and treatment on the daily life of patients, functional health and health-related quality of life as outcome measures have been increasingly used in addition to ordinary medical criteria. 2 SCI and MT often cause severe disabilities and dramatic changes in the life of the afflicted person and are usually associated with reduced functional health levels. 2,3 The findings are not unequivocal, however.…”

“…2 SCI and MT often cause severe disabilities and dramatic changes in the life of the afflicted person and are usually associated with reduced functional health levels. 2,3 The findings are not unequivocal, however. For example, several studies suggest that health-related quality of life after SCI or MT is not always influenced by the severity of either impairment or disability.…”

“…3,4 The causes of these findings are unclear, but it is assumed that psychological adaptive responses are involved. 3 Previous research on SCI and MT populations has included a variety of functional health determinants, such as demographic factors and co-morbidity, 2 physical fitness 5 and social support. 6 Yet, as emphasized by Post and Noreau,7 there is a lack of longitudinal studies, particularly of the effect of personal characteristics (for example, personality, coping strategies), in this research area.…”