Improvement of quality of life (QOL) between 1 and 3-4 years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in ICU patients.

Background: Evaluation of changes in quality of life (QOL) in ICU patients several years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not well documented.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in all patients with TBI admitted between 2004 and 2008 to the ICU of Regional Hospital of Malaga (Spain). Functional status was evaluated by Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) and QOL by PAECC (Project for the Epidemiologic Analysis of Critical Care patients) questionnaire between 0 (normal QOL) to 29 points (worst QOL).

Relationship between quality-of-life after 1-year follow-up and severity of traumatic brain injury assessed by computerized tomography.

Purpose: This paper studies the relationship between computed tomography (CT) scan on admission, according to Marshall's tomographic classification, and quality-of-life (QoL) after 1 year in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods: This study used validated scales including the Glasgow Outcome Scale and the PAECC (Project for the Epidemiologic Analysis of Critical Care Patients) QoL questionnaire.

Results: We enrolled 531 patients.