Self-Reported Psychosocial Health Among Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury
Abstract
McCarthy ML, Dikmen SS, Langlois JA, Selassie AW, Gu JK, Horner MD. Self-reported psychosocial health among adults with traumatic brain injury.
Objective
To measure the subjective psychosocial health of a population-based sample of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Design
Retrospective, cohort study involving a 1-year postinjury interview.
Setting
Sixty-two acute care, nonfederal hospitals in South Carolina.
Participants
Persons (≥15y) hospitalized with TBI.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measure
The psychosocial health scales of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey.
Results
Of the 7612 participants, 29% reported poor psychosocial health. Factors associated with poor psychosocial well-being included younger age, female sex, Medicaid coverage, no health insurance, inadequate or moderate social support, comorbidities (eg, a preinjury substance abuse problem), cognitive complaints, and some or a lot of limitation with activities of daily living. Only 36% of participants who reported poor psychosocial health reported receiving any mental health services.
Conclusions
A substantial proportion of persons hospitalized with TBI reported poor psychosocial health at 1 year postinjury. To optimize recovery, clinicians need to ensure that patients’ psychosocial health needs are addressed during the postacute period.
aDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
bDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
cNational Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
dDepartment of Biometry and Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
eDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
fMental Health Service, Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, SC.
Reprint requests to Melissa L. McCarthy, ScD, Dept of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5801 Smith Ave, Davis Bldg, Ste 3220, Baltimore, MD, 21209
Supported by the Division of Injury and Disability Outcomes and Programs, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cooperative agreement no. U17/CCU421926).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
ABSTRACT