Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Primary objective: To investigate emotional distress and quality of life in a sample of Danish relatives of patients with severebrain injury at admission to intensive rehabilitation in the sub-acute phase.Research design: Clinical convenience sample.Methods and procedures: Participants included 31 primary relatives of patients with severe brain injury. The participants wererecruited at admission to Traumatic Brain Injury Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Glostrup. All relatives completedthe depression and anxiety scales from SCL-90-R (Symptom Checklist) and the Role Emotional, Social Function, MentalHealth and Vitality scale of the SF-36 36 days after injury. Data concerning severity of injury, the patients’ level ofconsciousness and function was also collected.Main outcome and results: The participants had significantly lower scores on all quality of life scales (p50.01) andsignificantly more symptoms of anxiety (p50.01) and depression (p50.01) than normal reference populations.Correlations were found between the patients’ condition and the level of anxiety and depression in relatives.Conclusions: The majority of relatives had severely impaired quality of life and symptoms of anxiety and depression at thetime of admission. Future research should focus on developing and evaluating interventions in the acute phase.