Quality of life and psychological health after mild traumatic brain injury in older people: Three- and six-month follow up

Camilla H. Hume, Biswadev Mitra, Bradley J. Wright, Glynda J. Kinsella

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: Examine quality of life (QoL) and psychological health after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in older people (65+ years) at 3- and 6-month follow-up and explore which injury factors predicted QoL. Methods: mTBI patients were compared to trauma comparison (TC) and community comparison (CC) groups. QoL and psychological health were measured at both timepoints. After accounting for 3-month psychological health, injury severity, neuroimaging, and 3-month neuropsychological performance were assessed as predictors of 6-month QoL. Results: Overall 3-month QoL was lower for mTBI (Cohen’s d = 0.938) and TC (Cohen’s d = 0.485) groups compared to CCs, but by 6 months only mTBI patients continued to report poorer overall QoL (Cohen’s d = 0.577) and physical QoL (Cohen’s d = 0.656). Despite group differences, QoL for most (~92%) was within normative limits. 3-month psychological health predicted QoL 6-months postinjury (β = -.377, 95% CI −.614, −.140) but other proposed risk factors (GCS <15, neuroimaging, 3-month neuropsychological performance) did not uniquely predict QoL. Conclusions: Older adults following mTBI reported lower QoL up to 6-months postinjury compared to non-injured peers, indicating that mTBI patients were particularly susceptible to ongoing differences in QoL 6-months postinjury.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1262–1271
Number of pages10
JournalBrain Injury
Volume37
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • aged (MeSH)
  • Brain concussion (MeSH)
  • Mental health (MeSH)
  • mTBI
  • quality of life (MeSH)

Cite this