Violence survivors' quality of life assessment: An observational cohort study

Revised Trauma Quality of Life (RT-QOL) measurement among violence survivors is challenging because of loss to follow-up. This study evaluated RT-QOL instrument completion during follow-up phone calls after hospital discharge and assessed if time to follow-up call was associated with instrument completion.

This was an observational cohort study of intentional interpersonal violence survivors treated at a Level 1 urban trauma center from March 2018-April 2024. Depression (Beck's Depression Inventory II), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Breslau Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale 7-item), and Revised Trauma-specific Quality of Life (RT-QOL) instruments were phone administered after discharge in English or Spanish. Multivariable regression tested if time to follow-up call was associated with instrument completion while controlling for survivors' demographic, injury, hospital course and follow-up characteristics.

A total of 566 intentional interpersonal violence survivors were eligible. Survivors were mostly male (82.0 %), 25-64 years old (77.9 %), Black (65.2 %), and injured by firearm (44.7 %). Among the 566 eligible survivors, 115 survivors (20.3 %) had an inaccurate phone number in the medical record, and 32 (5.7 %) died after hospital discharge. Two survivors (0.4 %) partially completed and 51 (9 %) completed instruments. Survivors who completed instruments were called fewer times, 2 calls (IQR: 1-2.5) versus 3 calls (IQR: 1-3). Approximately 43 % of survivors who completed instruments, completed them on the first call. Time to follow-up call was not associated with instrument completion. Females had 2.45 higher adjusted odds of instrument completion after controlling for time to follow-up call, age, race, ethnicity and injury mechanism (p = 0.008). Among survivors who completed instruments, 21(41.1 %) screened positive on Beck's Depression Inventory II, 31 (60.8 %) screened positive on Breslau Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale 7-item, and 39 (76.5 %) reported RT-QOL symptoms impairing work.

Only female sex, not time to follow-up call, was associated with increased instrument completion among violence survivors.