Long-term health status and trajectories of seriously injured patients: A population-based longitudinal study

This study examined the long-term health outcomes of individuals who experienced major trauma, focusing on their recovery over three years. Researchers followed a group of 2,757 adults in Victoria, Australia, collecting data on their health status at multiple points after their injuries. The goal was to understand how well people recover from serious injuries and what factors influence their recovery. The study found that many participants continued to experience health problems three years after their injuries, highlighting that serious injury often leads to chronic conditions. Factors such as age, education level, and whether individuals were receiving compensation for their injuries significantly affected their recovery. The findings emphasize the need for greater investment in preventing major trauma and in developing interventions to support the long-term recovery of injured individuals. This includes better trauma system design, rehabilitation programs, and compensation schemes.

• 1
  The prevalence of ongoing problems at 3-years postinjury is high, confirming that serious injury is frequently a chronic disorder.
• 2
  Continued improvement to 36-months postinjury was only present for the usual activities item; the adjusted relative risk (ARR) of reporting problems decreased from 6 to 12 (ARR 0.87, 95% CI: 0.83–0.90), 12 to 24 (ARR 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90–0.98), and 24 to 36 months (ARR 0.95, 95% CI: 0.95–0.99).
• 3
  Three factors were important predictors of outcome for all items of the EQ-5D-3L, age, compensable status, and level of education, while the nature of injuries sustained, gender, preinjury employment, and level of socioeconomic disadvantage were important predictors of problems on many of the 5 EQ-5D-3L items.