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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may affect the lives of the individuals concerned and their relatives negatively in many dimensions. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a comprehensive and complex concept that can assess one's satisfaction with a broad range of areas of life and health. The Quality of Life after Traumatic Brain Injury (QOLIBRI) questionnaire is a TBI-specific measure for HRQoL which is used in research and health services worldwide. When evaluating self-reported HRQoL after TBI, reference values from a general population are helpful to perform clinically relevant evaluations and decisions about the condition of an affected person by comparing the patient scores with reference values. Despite the widespread use of the QOLIBRI, reference values have until now only been available for the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to validate the QOLIBRI for the general population in Italy and to provide reference values. An adapted form of the QOLIBRI was administered to 3298 Italians from a healthy general population using an online survey. Their scores were compared with those of 298 individuals post-TBI recruited within the international longitudinal observational cohort CENTER-TBI study in Italian hospitals, who completed the original questionnaire. The psychometric characteristics and the measurement invariance of the QOLIBRI were assessed. A regression analysis was performed to identify predictors relevant for HRQoL in the general population. Reference values were provided using percentiles. Measurement invariance analysis showed that the QOLIBRI captures the same HRQoL constructs in an Italian general population and Italian TBI sample from the observational Center-TBI study. Higher age, higher education and the absence of a chronic health condition were associated with higher QOLIBRI scores, suggesting better HRQoL. Reference values were provided for a general Italian population adjusted for age, sex, education and presence of chronic health conditions. We recommend using these for a better interpretation of the QOLIBRI score in clinical practice and research in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate socioeconomic and health-related determinants and recent life events and their relation to changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental well-being during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. A web-based survey was administered repeatedly to participants from Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Primary outcome measures were HRQoL (measured by EQ-5D-5L) and mental well-being (measured by WHO-5). Linear regression analyses were performed to estimate the impact of determinants on HRQoL and well-being. In total, 6765 respondents completed the questionnaire at T1 (April–May 2020) and T2 (May–June 2021). Regarding results, 33% showed improved HRQoL at T2, whereas 31% deteriorated. In terms of mental well-being, 44% improved and 41% deteriorated. The greatest deterioration in HRQoL and mental well-being from T1 to T2 was observed with an increasing number of chronic conditions. The effect of negative life events on HRQoL and mental well-being was larger than the effect of positive life events. We conclude that slightly more respondents showed improved rather than deteriorated HRQoL and mental well-being, with some variation by outcome measure and country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are at risk for post-concussion (PC) symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The co-occurrence of PC and PTSD symptoms after mTBI in relation to health-related quality of life (HRQoL), health care utilization, and return to work has not yet been investigated. PC and PTSD symptoms were measured six months post-TBI by respectively the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Of the 1566 individuals after mTBI who met the inclusion criteria, 26.1% experienced PC symptoms (RPQ ≥16). Additionally, 9.8% experienced PTSD symptoms (PCL-5 ≥ 33), of which the vast majority (81%) also reported experiencing PC symptoms. Differences between patients with no/mild symptoms, with only PC, only PTSD, and both PC and PTSD symptoms in HRQoL, return to work, and rehabilitation were analyzed using logistic and linear regression analyses. Patients with PC and/or PTSD symptoms reported lower HRQoL, higher rates of rehabilitation, and lower return to work rates compared to patients with no/mild symptoms. Patients with both PC and PTSD symptoms reported significantly lower HRQoL (B = −2.73, CI = −4.65; −0.83, p < 0.001) compared to those with only PC symptoms, while there were no significant differences in their ongoing rehabilitation care (OR = 1.39, CI = 0.77–2.49, p = 0.272) and return to work rates (OR = 0.49, CI = 0.15–1.63, p = 0.246) at six months. These results underline the importance of the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of patients with mTBI, experiencing PC and/or PTSD symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about post-concussion-like symptoms in the general injury population and the association of these symptoms with outcome after injury. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of post-concussion-like symptoms in a general injury population and describe the association between post-concussion syndrome (PCS) and health-related quality of life (HRQL), health care use, and return to work. In this longitudinal study of a cohort of injury patients, data were collected 6 and 12 months after their Emergency Department visit. Questionnaires included socio-demographics, health care utilization, return to work and the five-level version of the EuroQol five-dimensional descriptive system (EQ-5D-5L) to measure HRQL. The 12-month questionnaire included the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ). In total, 282 (22.0%) of the 1282 patients met the criteria for PCS. Apart from the high prevalence of PCS in patients with head injuries (29.4%), a considerable proportion of non-head injury patients also had PCS (20.6%) a year after injury. Patients with PCS had lower HRQL, lower return to work rates, and higher health care utilization, compared to patients without PCS. This underlines the importance of developing strategies to prevent post-concussion-like symptoms among injury patients, raising awareness among patients and physicians on the occurrence of PCS, early detection of PCS in the general injury population, and development of strategies to optimize recovery in this group of injury patients, ultimately leading to lower the individual and economic burden of injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Quality of Life after Traumatic Brain Injury (QOLIBRI) instrument is an internationally validated patient-reported outcome measure for assessing disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in individuals after traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, no reference values for general populations are available yet for use in clinical practice and research in the field of TBI. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to establish these reference values for the United Kingdom (UK) and the Netherlands (NL). For this purpose, an online survey with a reworded version of the QOLIBRI for general populations was used to collect data on 4403 individuals in the UK and 3399 in the NL. This QOLIBRI version was validated by inspecting descriptive statistics, psychometric criteria, and comparability of the translations to the original version. In particular, measurement invariance (MI) was tested to examine whether the items of the instrument were understood in the same way by different individuals in the general population samples and in the TBI sample across the two countries, which is necessary in order to establish reference values. In the general population samples, the reworded QOLIBRI displayed good psychometric properties, including MI across countries and in the non-TBI and TBI samples. Therefore, differences in the QOLIBRI scores can be attributed to real differences in HRQoL. Individuals with and without a chronic health condition did differ significantly, with the latter reporting lower HRQoL. In conclusion, we provided reference values for healthy individuals and individuals with at least one chronic condition from general population samples in the UK and the NL. These can be used in the interpretation of disease-specific HRQoL assessments after TBI applying the QOLIBRI on the individual level in clinical as well as research contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]