Quality of life after traumatic brain injury: The clinical use of the QOLIBRI, a novel disease-specific instrument

TLDR

The study reports the clinical use of the QOLIBRI, a disease‑specific health‑related quality‑of‑life instrument for traumatic brain injury patients. QOLIBRI, comprising 37 items across six scales, was self‑completed by 795 TBI patients in six languages, and its scores were analyzed against socio‑demographic, functional, health, and mental‑health variables to assess rehabilitation‑related factors. QOLIBRI proved sensitive to intervention‑relevant domains such as accommodation, work participation, health status, and functional outcome, providing subjective HRQoL data that complements clinical measures, facilitates goal prioritization, and is applicable across cultures and in clinical trials.

Abstract

Objective: To report the clinical use of the QOLIBRI, a disease-specific measure of health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) after traumatic brain injury (TBI).Methods: The QOLIBRI, with 37 items in six scales (cognition, self, daily life and autonomy, social relationships, emotions and physical problems) was completed by 795 patients in six languages (Finnish, German, Italian, French, English and Dutch). QOLIBRI scores were examined by variables likely to be influenced by rehabilitation interventions and included socio-demographic, functional outcome, health status and mental health variables.Results: The QOLIBRI was self-completed by 73% of participants and 27% completed it in interview. It was sensitive to areas of life amenable to intervention, such as accommodation, work participation, health status (including mental health) and functional outcome.Conclusion: The QOLIBRI provides information about patient's subjective perception of his/her HRQoL which supplements clinical measures and measures of functional outcome. It can be applied across different populations and cultures. It allows the identification of personal needs, the prioritization of therapeutic goals and the evaluation of individual progress. It may also be useful in clinical trials and in longitudinal studies of TBI recovery.