Association of Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity With Health-Related Quality of Life and Self-Reported Functioning Across 12 Months After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Objective

To investigate the relation between posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptom severity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Design

Longitudinal prospective multicenter, cohort study on severe TBI in Switzerland (2007–2011).

Setting

Hospital, rehabilitation unit, and/or patient’s living facility.

Participants

Patients with severe TBI (N=109) were included in the analyses. Injury severity was determined using the Abbreviated Injury Score of the head region after clinical assessment and initial computed tomography scan.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures

HRQoL (Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey Physical and Mental Component Summaries) and self-reported emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal functioning (Patient Competency Rating Scale for Neurorehabilitation).

Results

Multilevel models for patients >50 and ≤50 years of age revealed significant negative associations between PTS symptom severity and interpersonal functioning (P<.001 and P=.002), respectively. Among patients ≤50 years of age, PTS symptom severity was significantly associated with total functioning (P=.001) and emotional functioning (P<.001). Among all patients, PTS symptom severity was significantly associated with cognitive functioning (P<.001) and mental HRQoL (P=.01).

Conclusions

Findings indicate that PTS symptoms after severe TBI are negatively associated with HRQoL and emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal functioning.