Subjective well-being and quality of life following traumatic brain injury in adults: a long-term population-based follow-up

Primary objective: To assess subjective well-being and quality-of-life in nationally representative samples of patients at long intervals following traumatic brain injuries.

Methods and procedures: Patients with either cranial fractures or cerebral lesions were identified in a national computer-based register of hospital admissions and random samples were selected among those who had suffered the injury at 5, 10 or 15 years prior to the follow-up. Postal questionnaires were sent to them covering quality of life, e.g. return to employment, family relations and current subjective well-being in terms of symptomatology, e.g. somatic complaints, cognitive dysfunction. A response rate of 76% was obtained, comprising 114 patients with cranial fracture and 126 with cerebral lesions.

Main outcomes and results: The group with cerebral lesions had markedly poorer quality of life and subjective well-being than the group with cranial fractures and this did not vary across time. In both groups, the most common symptoms concerned cognition. Among the cerebral lesion group, quality of life outcome was fairly well predicted by severity of injury, but subjective well-being was less well predicted.

Conclusions: The negative consequences of traumatic cerebral lesions are marked and do not vary at long periods following injury.