B-48
A Longitudinal Comparison of the Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) Scale from the Sub-Acute Recovery Period to 1-Year Following Mild-Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury

Extract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the natural history of self-reported health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) symptoms within the first 12 months following military-related mild-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: Participants were 73 U.S. military service members (59 TBI, 14 trauma controls [TC]; Age: M = 29.5, SD = 7.7; 91.8% male) who completed the Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) scale within the first 6-months of injury (i.e., sub-acute recovery period; M = 4.0 months, SD = 2.0) and again at 1-year post-injury (M = 11.8 months, SD = 0.5). Results: In the sub-acute recovery period, the TBI group had a higher number of ‘abnormal’ (>1.5 SD) TBI-QOL scales compared to the TC group (p = .01; d = .74). These differences were most notable on the Positive affect/well-being, Self-evaluation, Headaches, Cognition-executive functions, and Cognition-general concerns scales (d = .44-.74). At 1-year post-injury, the TBI group continued to have a higher number of ‘abnormal’ TBI-QOL scales compared to the TC group (p = .07; d = .56), though these differences were noted only on a handful of scales (i.e., Headaches, Cognition-executive functions, and Cognition-general concerns; d = .38-.39). Longitudinally, there were no significant differences in the number of abnormal TBI-QOL scales from the sub-acute period to 1-year post-injury in the TBI (p = .370, d = 10) or TC group (p = .999, d = .01). Conclusion: Following mild-moderate TBI, there was little change in overall HR-QOL from the sub-acute period to 1-year post-injury. However, overall HR-QOL status was consistently worse when compared to their injured counterparts. These differences were most notable in the sub-acute period, but continued to be present 1-year following injury, and predominantly included problems with headaches and cognitive complaints.