ORIGINAL ARTICLE   Open access

Italian Journal of Emergency Medicine 2020 December;9(3):188-94

DOI: 10.23736/S2532-1285.20.00054-3

Copyright © 2020 THE AUTHORS

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license which allows users to copy and distribute the manuscript, as long as this is not done for commercial purposes and further does not permit distribution of the manuscript if it is changed or edited in any way, and as long as the user gives appropriate credits to the original author(s) and the source (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI) and provides a link to the license.

language: English

Quality of life 1-7 years after a mild to moderate trauma

Francesca INNOCENTI ✉, Federica TRAUSI, Chiara GIGLI, Alessandro COPPA, Rita AUDISIO, Stefano CALCAGNO, Irene TASSINARI, Riccardo PINI

High-Dependency Observation Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy

BACKGROUND: Few data are available about the impact of a mild to moderate trauma on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Aims of the present study were: 1) to evaluate HRQOL 1-7 years after a mild to moderate trauma; and 2) to study possible determinants of the HRQOL reduction.
METHODS: We performed a follow-up (FU) observational study of a cohort of 416 trauma patients admitted to the ED-HDU of the University Hospital of Florence from July 2008 to December 2014. A follow-up based on telephone interviews using the physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health composite score (SF12) was conducted between October 2015 and February 2016.
RESULTS: The study population included 351 patients; mean PCS was 43±12 and mean MCS 49±13. About one third of the population showed an abnormal PCS (36%) or MCS (23%) score; 19%, 21% and 16% of patients reported a mild, moderate or severe disability in the physical dimension; and 17%, 14% and 11% in the mental dimension. In a stepwise multivariable analysis, in the first step, we included demographic and anamnestic parameters: an advanced age (HR: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04), presence of comorbidities (HR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.30-4.11) and female gender (HR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.14-3.19) were significantly associated with an abnormal PCS. In the second step, we added the variables related to trauma severity: a longer LOS (HR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01-1.07) entered in the model, alongside the aforementioned variables. An advanced age (HR: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.05) predicted an abnormal MCS score in both steps.
CONCLUSIONS: After a mild to moderate trauma, a significant proportion of patients reported a reduced HRQOL; the condition before trauma played a pivotal role in determining an abnormal HRQOL.

KEY WORDS: Wounds and injuries; Prognosis; Quality of life