Quality of Life After a Severe Traumatic Injury – a Longitudinal Study Using the SF-36.

Abstract

Background:Even though 85% of those who have been severely injured in an accident in Germany survive, complex and serious long-term consequences are still a major problem and the victims´ quality of life is affected permanently. Therefore the aim of the current study is to identify factors that correlate significantly with the quality of life after a severe traumatic injury and to investigate whether the support by a reintegration service has a positive effect.Methods:The sample consists of severely injured accident victims who were supported by a reintegration service. The data collection comprises three data points: T1 (N = 108), T2 (N = 67) and T3 (N = 47). At every data point the German version of the SF-36 questionnaire (Bullinger & Kirchberger, 1998) was used to assess the participants’ quality of life. Findings & Discussion:The results indicate that an individual medical-vocational support by a reintegration service has the potential to significantly and stably improve the physical but not the psychological aspects of quality of life, even if the accident dates back several years. The treatment of psychological consequences after severe accidents needs more attention.