Quality of life at 3 and 6 months in military personnel with a history of thoracic trauma suffered in combat

Abstract

Objective: To measure the score and variation in the SF-36 quality of life questionnaire at 3 and 6 months of evaluation in military personnel with a history of chest trauma in combat. Method: Comparative study between military with chest trauma and healthy military personnel from 2011 to 2016, evaluating the SF-36 quality of life questionnaire. Results: 45 subjects were analyzed, 25 with a history of chest trauma and 10 healthy controls with combat experience. 25 of the cases were evaluated at 3 months and 11 at 6 months. The average age was 28.2 years (standard deviation: 7.22), and 76% had projectile wounds with a high-speed firearm. 44 % (11/25) of the subjects with chest trauma at three months of assessment presented a lot of limitation for the performance of moderate activities (p < 0.001) and only 5% (1/20) of the controls reported a lot of limitation (p < 0.001). Conclusions: There is significant deterioration in the quality of life in all domains through the SF-36 questionnaire in patients with chest trauma at 3 and 6 months after the evaluation.