ABSTRACT
Introduction: During the year 2007, 15092 road accidents occurred in Greece, leading to 1578 deaths and 18886 trauma patients. This means that every 24 hours, there were 6 dead and 67 trauma patients in road accidents. Road accidents affect areas of the trauma patient’s life every day, such as physical functioning and mental health, thus changing his quality of life.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the change in quality of life of the trauma patient from road accidents up to two years after leaving the hospital.
Method: Patients or their caregivers were asked to respond to the questionnaire EQ-5D at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after leaving the hospital, which reflected the gradual change in their quality of life.
Results: Age, marital status, living with other people at home, monthly household income and head injuries, are factors that affect the lives of trauma patients, after leaving the hospital. The increased monthly family income and the absence of brain injury were associated with increase in the EQ VAS. The frequency of serious mobility problems, self-service, daily activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression decreased over time.
Conclusion: Quality of life of trauma patients continues to improve, even 2 years after discharge from the hospital, but is not stabilized or approaching levels of the patient’s Quality of life before the accident.
Key Words: Quality of Life, road accidents, trauma patient, EQ-5D questionnaire.