A prospective study on paediatric traffic injuries: health-related quality of life and post-traumatic stress

Objectives: To examine children's reports of their health- related quality of life ( HRQoL) following paediatric traffic injury, to explore child and parental post- traumatic stress, and to identify children and parents with adverse outcomes. Design: Prospective cohort study. Assessments: shortly after the injury, three months and six months post injury. Setting: Department of Traumatology, University Hospital. Subjects: Fifty- one young traffic injury victims aged 8 - 15 years. Main measures: TNO- AZL Children's Quality of Life questionnaire and the Impact of Event Scale. Results: Short- term adverse changes in the child's HRQoL were observed for the child's motor functioning and autonomy. At three months, 12% of the children and 16% of the parents reported serious post- traumatic stress symptoms. Increased stress at three months, or across follow- up, was observed among hospitalized children, children with head injuries, and children injured in a motor vehicle accident. Parental stress was related to low socioeconomic status and the seriousness of the child's injury and accident ( hospitalization, head injury, serious injury, motor vehicle involved, others injured). Conclusions: The children reported only temporary effects in their motor functioning and autonomy. Post- traumatic stress symptoms following paediatric traffic injury were not only experienced by the children, but also by their parents