The impact of injuries study. multicentre study assessing physical, psychological, social and occupational functioning post injury - a protocol

Abstract

BackgroundLarge numbers of people are killed or severely injured following injuries each year and these injuries place a large burden on health care resources. The majority of the severely injured are not fully recovered 12-18 months later. Psychological disorders are common post injury and are associated with poorer functional and occupational outcomes. Much of this evidence comes from countries other than the UK, with differing health care and compensation systems. Early interventions can be effective in treating psychological morbidity, hence the scale and nature of the problem and its impact of functioning in the UK must be known before services can be designed to identify and manage psychological morbidity post injury.Methods/DesignA longitudinal multi-centre study of 680 injured patients admitted to hospital in four areas across the UK: Nottingham, Leicester/Loughborough, Bristol and Surrey. A stratified sample of injuries will ensure a range of common and less common injuries will be included. Participants will complete a baseline questionnaire about their injury and pre-injury quality of life, and follow-up questionnaires 1, 2, 4, and 12 months post injury. Measures will include health and social care utilisation, perceptions of recovery, physical, psychological, social and occupational functioning and health-related quality of life. A nested qualitative study will explore the experiences of a sample of participants, their carers and service providers to inform service design.DiscussionThis study will quantify physical, psychological, social and occupational functioning and health and social care utilisation following a range of different types of injury and will assess the impact of psychological disorders on function and health service use. The findings will be used to guide the development of interventions to maximise recovery post injury.

Seeking support after hospitalisation for injury: a nested qualitative study of the role of primary care

“…Maximum variation sampling was used, based on injured participant characteristics ascertained from selfcompleted questionnaires at recruitment into the quantitative study and at 1, 2, 4, and 12 months' follow-up as described in the published protocol. 15 Patient and SP sampling is described in full elsewhere. 9,10 Patient interview schedules explored experiences of care post-injury while SP interviews explored experiences of providing care and individual and organisational barriers to better provision.…”

The Busy General Practitioner’s Reference Guide to Increasing Physical Activity Levels in the British population and Associated Benefits/Risks: A Review of the Literature

“…Key predictors of RTW are suspected to be applicable to changes in postinjury PA levels, with a prospective cohort study by Clay et al (2010) demonstrating that strong recovery beliefs amongst participants increase the odds of returning to work at 12 weeks and 6 months by 16.7 and 3.9 times respectively. Gender [64][65][66] and depression status [67] do not have any effect on RTW times in various injury studies looking at injuries sustained both from trauma and non-traumatic causes. More data are expected to be available on these findings when the UK wide "Impact of injuries study" results are published later this year [68].…”

The role of general practice in following up patients with trauma

“…1 In the UK, falls and road traffic accidents are the most common causes of injury 2 and GPs are often required to provide psychological support, manage, and coordinate follow up care. Patients with mild head trauma may only present to primary care 3 expecting to receive appropriate management and reassurance that their condition is self-limiting.…”

“…5 This was a nested study as part of multicentre longitudinal quantitative study assessing the impact of injuries on physical, psychological, social, and occupational functioning. 2 Christie and colleagues interviewed 45 patients at various points in the year post injury, and 40 service providers (SPs). SPs included nurses, physiotherapists, doctors, and a number of other allied health professionals.…”