Relationship between Quality of Life after Traumatic Brain Injury and Demographic Characteristics in a Three-Year Follow-Up

Abstract

Background and purpose: Quality of life among traumatic brain injury patients is of great importance in having more effective treatment. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between quality of life after traumatic brain injury and demographic characteristics. Materials and methods: In this cohort study, the statistical population included 409 patients with traumatic brain injury attending Sari Imam Khomeini Hospital, 2010-2014, of whom 97 were selected via purposeful sampling after three years. The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36) was administered and demographic characteristics were recorded using a researcher-made questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out in SPSS V19. Results: The patients (n=409) included 67% men and 70.1% were married. There were 59.8% over 30 years of age and 84.5% were living in city. Quality of life after traumatic brain injury was significantly associated with gender. But, there were no significant relationship between quality of life after traumatic brain injury and age groups (P=0.366), education (P=0.379), marital status (P=0.342), and place of residence (P=0.118). Conclusion: Traumatic brain injury as a long-term pain influences the quality of life of patients, therefore, it should be considered in health-care planning.

Keywords

• traumatic brain injury
• quality of life
• emographic characteristics