Gv. Mata et al., ANALYSIS OF QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN POLYTRAUMATIZED PATIENTS 2 YEARS AFTER-DISCHARGE FROM AN INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT, The journal of trauma, injury, infection, and critical care, 41(2), 1996, pp. 326-332
Objective: Analysis of quality of life of polytraumatized critical car
e patients. Design: Prospective study. Material and Methods: Patients
admitted in a 2-year period in a traumatologic intensive care unit (IC
U) were evaluated, A quality of life questionnaire was completed on ad
mission (N = 351), 1 year and 2 Sears after discharge from the ICU. Th
e three questionnaires evaluated patients' ability to function and com
municate over the previous 2 months, A quality of life score of 0 corr
esponded to no limitations, Quality of life was also evaluated by the
Glasgow Outcome Scale, Information was collected on the severity of il
lness and the diagnosis prompting ICU admission. Results: The mean qua
lity of life score of survivors worsened from 0.46 +/- 0.11 points on
ICU admission to 6.68 +/- 0.41 1 year after discharge, and then improv
ed to 4.86 +/- 0.38 2 years after discharge, although the quality of l
ife score continued to be worse than on admission (p < 0.001), On admi
ssion, 93.2% of patients had normal quality of life (0 points), after
1 year 36.5% were normal, and after 2 years 51.6% were normal, Three p
atients (0.9%) remained in vegetative state, On admission, 96.6% were
working, while after 2 years, only 57.5% had returned to employment, a
lthough the high levels of unemployment in our country during this stu
dy may have been a particular factor in this result, All age groups ex
cept pediatric patients showed a worsened quality of life after 2 year
s, and patients over 60 years had worst scores on admission and after
1 and 2 Sears, Patients with least severity by Acute Physiology and Ch
ronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score (<10 points) had a better qu
ality of life score after 1 and 2 years, Severity by Injury Severity S
core showed patients with >25 points having the greatest deterioration
in quality of life. A multivariate study showed that quality of life
after 2 years is influenced by age, severity of injury, and previous q
uality of life. Conclusions: Polytraumatized patients admitted into IC
U shelved a worsening of their quality of life 1 and 2 years after ICU
discharge, with an improvement between 1 and 2 years, Quality of life
after 2 years is influenced by age, severity of illness, and previous
quality of life.