The Health-Related Quality of Life of Pediatric Traffic Victims

OBJECTIVE: To describe the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of young traffic victims and to identify those children who are at high risk of a reduced HRQoL. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of data obtained from a registration system and from questionnaires completed by 211 parents of young traffic victims who attended the department of traumatology in 1996 and 1997. RESULTS: The overall group of young traffic victims experienced a lower HRQoL sumscore compared with the reference population (p = 0.001). A total of 48 parents (23%) attributed their child's reduced HRQoL specifically to the traffic accident. The socioeconomic status (SES) of the father (p = 0.018) and the Injury Severity Score (p < 0.001) emerged as significant predictors of traffic-related HRQoL. CONCLUSION: Children of low SES parents and severely injured children are at particularly high risk of a reduced HRQoL following a traffic accident. However, not solely severely injured and hospitalized young traffic victims may suffer a diminished HRQoL but traffic-related injuries of minor or moderate severity may cause substantial problems as well.