ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Trauma accounts for nearly one-tenth of the global disability-adjusted life-years, a large proportion of which is seen in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Trauma can affect employment opportunities, reduce social participation, be influenced by social support, and significantly reduce the quality of life (QOL) among survivors. Research typically focuses on specific trauma sub-groups. This dispersed knowledge results in limited understanding of these outcomes in trauma patients as a whole across different populations and settings. We aimed to assess and provide a systematic overview of current knowledge about return-to-work (RTW), participation, social support, and QOL in trauma patients up to one year after discharge. METHODS: We undertook a systematic review of the literature published since 2010 on RTW, participation, social support, and QOL in adult trauma populations, up to one year from discharge, utilizing the most commonly used measurement tools from three databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. We performed a meta-analysis based on the type of outcome, tool for measurement, and the specific effect measure as well as assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. RESULTS: A total of 43 articles were included. More than one-third (36%) of patients had not returned to work even a year after discharge. Those who did return to work took more than 3 months to do so. Trauma patients reported receiving moderate social support. There were no studies reporting social participation among trauma patients using the inclusion criteria. The QOL scores of the trauma patients did not reach the population norms or pre-injury levels even a year after discharge. Older adults and females tended to have poorer outcomes. Elderly individuals and females were under-represented in the studies. More than three-quarters of the included studies were from high-income countries (HICs) and had higher methodological quality. CONCLUSION: RTW and QOL are affected by trauma even a year after discharge and the social support received was moderate, especially among elderly and female patients. Future studies should move towards building more high-quality evidence from LMICs on long-term socioeconomic outcomes including social support, participation and unpaid work.
Subject(s)
Patient Discharge , Quality of Life , Aftercare , Aged , Female , Humans , Income , Return to WorkABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Trauma is a global public health challenge. Measuring post-discharge socioeconomic and quality-of-life outcomes can help better understand and reduce the consequences of trauma. METHODS: We performed a scoping review to map the existing research on post-discharge outcomes for trauma patients, irrespective of the country or setting in which the study was performed. The scoping review was conducted by searching six databases - MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Global Index Medicus, BASE, and Web of Science - to identify all articles that report post-discharge socioeconomic or quality of life outcomes in trauma patients from 2009 to 2018. RESULTS: Seven hundred fifty-eight articles were included in this study, extracting 958 outcomes. Most studies (82%) were from high-income countries (HICs). More studies from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) were cross-sectional (71%) compared with HIC settings (46%). There was a wide variety of different definitions, interpretations, and measurements used by various articles for similar outcomes. Quality of life, return to work, social support, cost, and participation were the main outcomes studied in post-discharge trauma patients. CONCLUSIONS: The wide range of outcomes and outcome measures reported across different types of injuries and settings. This variability can be a barrier when comparing across different types of injuries and settings. Post-discharge trauma studies should move towards building evidence based on standardized measurement of outcomes.