Injury Research Center

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RESEARCH PROJECT PROFILE

I) Quality of Life After Trauma

Title: Quality of Life After Trauma
Project Director: Karen J. Brasel MD, MPH
Project Co-directors: John Weigelt MD, DVM and Andrea Winthrop MD
Institutions: Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
Categorization I: Acute Care
Categorization II: Major Project
Cost/ Year: $104,000 / year
Duration: Five Years
Key Words: injury, injury control, post-injury, quality of life, outcomes measures, trauma, utility, Functional Independence Measure (FIM) (WeeFIM), Quality of Well-being Index (QWB), SF-36, Child Health Questionnaire, acute care, and trauma outcomes
Abstract:
Long-term Objectives and Specific Aims:
This is a prospective study evaluating the functional outcome and health status after moderate to severe trauma. In addition to evaluating functional outcome and health status, their relationship to injury severity and types of injury will be evaluated as will the degree of social support experienced by the patient. The ability to use several sub-scale scores to derive a single utility value for health status will also be studied.

Research Design and Methods:
All patients with moderate to severe trauma will be surveyed 1, 3, 12, 18 and 24 months post-injury. Self-administered questionnaires will include two measures of generic quality of life and one functional outcome measure. Inclusion criteria include age 10 and older, with moderate or severe injury measured by the Injury Severity Score (ISS 9). Project duration is 5 years. Patient enrollment will continue for 3 years and followed for 2 years after enrollment. Study results will be used to determine the optimal time for measuring generic health status and functional recovery after trauma, and to derive a method of ascertaining a single value for quality of life useful in health services research.

 

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