Head injury in young adults: long-term outcome.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the long-term outcome 5 years after injury of young adults who were 15 to 19 years old at the time of their head injuries.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort. The health records of 62 consecutive eligible subjects were abstracted for baseline sociodemographic, health, and injury variables. A telephone interview was administered to assess quality of life, impairment, disability, and handicap.

SETTING

Canada's largest trauma center, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, Canada.

SUBJECTS

Of the 58 subjects (94%) who were traced at follow-up, 51 agreed to participate.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The Medical Outcomes Study SF-36, Head Injury Symptom Checklist, selected disability measures, Community Integration Questionnaire.

RESULTS

Of the 8 summary items of the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36, subjects scored lowest on mental health. There were no significant differences between mild and more severely injured groups in all quality of life measures. Subjects classified with mild head injury overall reported more symptoms from the Head Injury Symptom Checklist. Subjects with more severe injuries had lower community integration scores (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, mental health is an important area of concern at follow-up for all subjects. Adolescents with apparent mild head injury can have disabling symptoms many years after injury.