Primary objective: To assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and its determinants in a cohort who had sustained a traumatic brain injury 22 years earlier.
Research design: Cohort study with a postal follow-up survey.
Methods and procedures: Two hundred and fifty-nine individuals with traumatic brain injury responded to the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and General Health Questionnaire-30 (GHQ-30) questionnaires. SF-36 scores were compared with a general population sample (n = 6800). In multiple linear regression analysis determinants of physical and mental component summary scores (PCS, MCS) of SF-36 and the GHQ-30 total score were assessed.
Main outcomes and results: Except on the physical functioning scale, SF-36 scores were lower in the traumatic brain injury cohort than in the general population, after adjusting for age, sex and education. In multiple linear regression analysis, reported psychiatric disease and headache >or=1 day per month were associated with impaired MCS and GHQ-30 total scores. Age, severe headache 3 months after the injury, previous sick leave, lung disease and heart disease were associated with PCS. No injury variable was associated with HRQoL.
Conclusions: Headache 3 months after traumatic brain injury and later comorbidity were associated with HRQoL 22 years after traumatic brain injury, but there was no association of HRQoL with injury data.