Overview This was a PhD study undertaken over a 4-year period with the main aim to examine the quality of life issues in survivors of road crashes. It was a follow-up study of 2 participant groups; one with relatively ’minor’ injury and a ’seriously’ injured groups admitted following their crash. The immediate and subsequent follow-up interviews identified what effect the injury had on everyday activity for the person and their family.
Objectives The area of injury outcomes is a relatively new subject and to date road crash survivors have not been examined in any great detail. This is a new research area for the VSRC and through the study objectives it was hoped to present an awareness of the ‘real world’ effects of injury from the individuals perspective. The main objectives were;
to assess the potential of using health outcome measures to measure the outcomes of road crash injury;
to assess the potential human cost of injury as a measure of quality of life;
to examine the factors which contribute to a good or bad recovery.
Main features of project Overall it was found that there were significant physical and psychological effects following road crash injury. Females had worse outcomes compared to seriously injured males. The consequences of injury had a large impact on everyday life such as sporting hobbies; personal finances; relationships and work. |
