Health determinants among persons with traumatic injuries: A comparative analysis using the sickness impact profile

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to: (a) measure and compare the subjective health status of persons with spinal cord injuries (SCIs); traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), burns, and intra-articular fractures of the lower extremities (IAFx); (b) identify factors that explain variation in the health assessments of persons with each injury type; and (c) determine whether the effects of study factors and variables are consistent across injury types. These tasks were accomplished by employing the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a generic, overall health status indicator, as the outcome measure in three separate sets of hierarchical regression analyses. The variable subsets useful in explaining overall SIP scores for the four injury types were defined and questions concerning similarities among the different injury types were addressed. Findings indicate that: (a) the overall, physical, and psychosocial health assessments of persons with TBIs, IAFx, and burns do not differ significantly; and (b) persons with SCIs, TBIs, IAFx, and burns should be considered distinct groupings with respect to the individual determinants of overall health status and the variable domains explaining the greatest amounts of variance in health status assessments.

Citation

Hall, J. and Yoels, W.C. (2001), "Health determinants among persons with traumatic injuries: A comparative analysis using the sickness impact profile", Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Changing Consumers and Changing Technology in Health Care and Health Care Delivery (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 231-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0275-4959(01)80014-4