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Core Indicators to Assess Quality of Life in Population with Brain Injury

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Abstract

Assessing quality of life of people with brain injury has a relevant role for developing strategies focused on personal outcomes that allow us to guide good practices and rehabilitation. So far, assessment of quality of life for this population has been restricted to an evaluation of personal outcomes from a health-related quality of life perspective. This approach it is mostly centered on physical health, however, quality of life needs to be addressed from a holistic and multidimensional perspective. The goal of this study is to identify core indicators of quality of life in brain injury based on a comprehensive theoretical model focused on the most relevant aspects of this population functioning. A Delphi study was carried out to obtain the specific core indicators of quality of life for this population. The methodology used to reach a consensus about the best indicators and items to measure quality of life involved four rounds and 14 experts on rehabilitation of people with brain injury. The Delphi study provided evidence of content validity for the field-test version of a new scale that will be applied to a wide sample in order to empirically check its suitability for this population.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grant PSI2015-65193-P [MINECO/FEDER, UE]), and of two predoctoral’s fellowships (BES-2013-065113; FPU14/01468 – Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport respectively). We also gratefully acknowledge the support of the Centro de Referencia Estatal de Atención al Daño Cerebral Adquirido (CEADAC, Spain), who have partially funded the research, and the Federación Española de Daño Cerebral (FEDACE, Spain). Finally, the authors would especially like to thank the organizations, professionals, people with brain injury, and families for completing the questionnaires and for their support on this project.

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  1. Faculty of Psychology, INICO-University of Salamanca, Avda. de la Merced, 109-131, 37005, Salamanca, Spain

    María Fernández, Miguel Ángel Verdugo & Virginia Aguayo

  2. Faculty of Psychology, INICO-University of Oviedo, Plaza Feijoo, s/n, 33003, Oviedo, Spain

    Laura E. Gómez

  3. Faculty of Psychology, INICO-University of Valladolid, Paseo de Belén 1, 47011, Valladolid, Spain

    Benito Arias

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  1. María Fernández
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  2. Miguel Ángel Verdugo
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Correspondence to María Fernández.

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Fernández, M., Verdugo, M.Á., Gómez, L.E. et al. Core Indicators to Assess Quality of Life in Population with Brain Injury. Soc Indic Res 137, 813–828 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1612-6

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