A Comprehensive Review of Quality of Life Surveys for Trauma-Affected Communities

Research shows that exposure to community and domestic violence leads to psychological trauma from childhood through adulthood, which can lead to poor health and early death. A team of health information management (HIM) professionals reviewed existing surveys to determine their suitability for assessing the quality of life (QoL) of people in trauma-affected communities (TACs). Keywords were used to search for papers describing validated QoL surveys. The obtained papers were screened, reviewed, and summarized to determine if they include the aspects needed for assessing QoL in TACs. Survey items from 20 surveys were identified as relevant to this study. Most of these 20 surveys cover one or two domains of QoL, and none of them were specifically designed for people in TACs. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a psychometrically sound assessment tool to quantify the levels of trauma, resilience, and well-being in TACs. HIM professionals have the required skills for this task.