Quality of life following road traffic injury: the impact of age and gender

Abstract

Purpose The impact of road traffic crashes on health is well developed, in terms of deaths and direct consequences, but it is less so in terms of long-term life consequences. Few studies have compared the general impact on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) following road traffic injury (RTI) by using a variety of different injured body parts and severity levels of the injury and compared them with a sample of non-injured referent individuals. Consequently, the aim of the current study is to assess how injury severity is associated with HRQoL, and if it differs between men, women, over age and injured body parts. Methods This cross-sectional study identified people with a RTI in the Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition System (STRADA). A frequency matched reference group was also included. Data include both register data and self-reported HRQoL data. Results A total of 1788 out of 4761 persons with an RTI (37.6%) and 2186 out of 4761 reference persons (45.9%) returned the questionnaire, giving a total response rate of 41.9% (n = 3974). The findings show different patterns of HRQoL loss, depending on sex, age, injured body part, and levels of injury severity. Conclusion The results show that even relatively minor road traffic injuries can lead to a significantly lower of HRQoL, especially for women, compared to the non-injured reference group. Moreover, when the inherent reduction of HRQoL over age was considered, the results indicated that younger individuals have a larger difference from the reference group in HRQoL, independent of the injury severity, compared to the older individuals; hence, an improved understanding of age and gender differences in HRQoL following an RTI is needed to better understand the long-term consequences of injuries from a public health perspective.

Quality of life in road traffic accident survivors

“…The Croatian general population sample reported lower QoL scores in the older age group and among females ( 24 ). Other studies of RTA victims also found older age to be associated with lower QoL after the RTA ( 4 , 5 , 6 , 9 , 11 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 ). A few studies also found female RTA survivors reporting lower QoL than males ( 5 , 25 , 28 ).…”

“…Other studies of RTA victims also found older age to be associated with lower QoL after the RTA ( 4 , 5 , 6 , 9 , 11 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 ). A few studies also found female RTA survivors reporting lower QoL than males ( 5 , 25 , 28 ). Lower education level ( 7 , 11 , 12 ), unemployment ( 6 , 9 , 11 ) and lower economic status ( 11 ) of RTA victims were associated with lower QoL after the RTA in several studies.…”

“…The QoL of the RTA survivors one month after the experienced RTA was below the average scores for the general Croatian population in the following QoL domains: RP (0.0 vs. 61.5) and BP (55.0 vs. 64.6) ( 24 ). Other studies also found RTA survivors had lower QoL than general population norms ( 4 , 6 , 12 , 23 , 25 ).…”

Perception of the Impacts of Urban Mobility Interventions in the Niterói Oceanic Region, Brazil

“…CVT project and relevant legislation [37]; [39,40]; [42][43][44][45][46][47] Infrastructure projects assessment [2][3][4][5][6][7]; [14]; [18] Social impacts of road traffic [3,4]; [11]; [17,18]; [49]; [50] Influence of the road system on the natural and urban landscape and the quality of the habitat [8,9]; [13]; [16,17]; [19]; [20]; [21,22] Influence of the road system on air quality [4]; [13]; [23][24][25][26][27] Influence of the road system and city morphology on noise pollution [4]; [12]; [23][24][25][26][27][28][29]…”

The Effects of Education on the Major Life Activities of Road Traffic Injury Victims Concerning Health Satisfaction Status

“…Less research focused on long-term health-related quality of life (Rissanen et al, 2020;Gopinath et al, 2017); which remains very limited, almost non-existent in the context of MLA limitations and educational status. The proposed study assessed the effects of education on the major life activities of RTI victims concerning health satisfaction status.…”