Psychosocial and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) Aspect of Oral and Maxillofacial Trauma

Abstract

Psychosocial and health-related quality of life following oral and maxillofacial injuries is an often neglected aspect of patients’ management. It has been noted that patients with maxillofacial trauma were more likely to be depressed, anxious with low self-esteem and poor health-related quality of life and possibility of post-trau-matic stress disorder (PTSD). Depression and anxiety associated with facial trauma are often coupled with worries regarding recovery. Following trauma, there may be physical dysfunction especially facial disfigurement which may adversely affect the patients’ ability to undertake daily activities and lower their mood and self-esteem leading to overall poor health-related quality of life. Focusing on these psychosocial factors, this chapter also elaborated on the immediate and long term effects of these factors if not incorporated into patient’s care. In a study of 80 maxillofacial injured patients’ in Sub-Saharan Africa using hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) questionnaire, the HADS detected 42 (52.5%) cases of depression and 56 (70.0%) cases of anxiety at baseline. Rosenberg’s self-esteem questionnaire detected 33 (41.3%) patients with low self-esteem at baseline. WHO HRQoL-Bref questionnaire showed poor Quality of life in all the domains of the instrument with lowest in the physical and psychological domains. Similarly, the trauma screening questionnaire (TSQ) for PTSD detected 19 patients had symptoms of PTSD at Time 1 with a prevalence rate of 25%.