Quality of Well-being profiles followed paths of health status change at micro- and meso-levels in trauma patients

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze Quality of Well-being Scale scores and profiles tracing Trauma Recovery Project (TRP) patient scores over time. Study Design and Setting: A total of 787 TRP patients had complete preinjury and injury day data. Of these 787, 574 patients were followed up 6 months after hospital release. Analyses include persons with head injury vs. long bone and pelvic injury. Results: Paired t-tests found significant differences for scores between each measurement point. Means analyses found significant variation on first day of hospitalization vs. 6-month recovery scores by injury site-head worse off than long bone and pelvic injury at first, but becoming better off 6 months after release from hospital. These effects were traced to specific symptom/problem complexes and functional limitations. Conclusion: Examination of such profiles can add significant information about health implications not obvious from overall scores. The size and direction of such contributions to overall scores may be reliably traced over time. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.