Clinical Utility and Psychometric Properties of the Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life Scale (TBI-QOL) in US Military Service Members.
Publication Status: Published
Sponsoring Organization: Defense Health Agency (formerly TRICARE Management Activity)
Sponsoring Office: Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
Congressionally Mandated: No
Funding Source: Undetermined
Release Date/Publication:
Principle Investigator Status: Government
Primary DoD Data Source: Other Clinical
Secondary DoD Data Source:
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To examine the clinical utility and psychometric properties of the Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) scale in a US military population.
PARTICIPANTS:
One hundred fifty-two US military service members (age: M = 34.3, SD = 9.4; 89.5% men) prospectively enrolled from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and other nationwide community outreach initiatives. Participants included 99 service members who had sustained a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 53 injured or noninjured controls without TBI (n = 29 and n = 24, respectively).
PROCEDURE:
Participants completed the TBI-QOL scale and 5 other behavioral measures, on average, 33.8 months postinjury (SD = 37.9).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Fourteen TBI-QOL subscales; Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian version; Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; Combat Exposure Scale.
RESULTS:
The internal consistency reliability of the TBI-QOL scales ranged from α = .91 to α = .98. The convergent and discriminant validity of the 14 TBI-QOL subscales was high. The mild TBI group had significantly worse scores on 10 of the 14 TBI-QOL subscales than the control group (range, P < .001 to P = .043). Effect sizes ranged from medium to very large (d = 0.35 to d = 1.13). The largest differences were found on the Cognition-General Concerns (d = 1.13), Executive Function (d = 0.94), Grief-Loss (d = 0.88), Pain Interference (d = 0.83), and Headache Pain (d = 0.83) subscales.
CONCLUSION:
These results support the use of the TBI-QOL scale as a measure of health-related quality of life in a mild TBI military sample. Additional research is recommended to further evaluate the clinical utility of the TBI-QOL scale in both military and civilian settings.
Citation:
Lange RT, Brickell TA, Bailie JM, Tulsky DS, French LM. Clinical Utility and Psychometric Properties of the Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life Scale (TBI-QOL) in US Military Service Members. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2016 Jan-Feb;31(1):62-78.