Glasgow Coma Scale and quality of life after traumatic brain injury*

Objective: To evaluate the behavior of different scores on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) observed during the first 72 hours after trauma, before the perceived changes to quality of life and health status, and one year after the traumatic event. Methods: A study using a quantitative approach, observational, longitudinal, descriptive and correlational with victims of blunt head trauma (BHT) evaluated daily during hospitalization, and after one year by means of the Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF -36). Results: Under the Reciever Operator Characteristic curves, the values of the GCS related to the perceived change of health status did not differ significantly and ranged from 0.63 to 0.71. A correlation, statistically significant, although weak, was observed between GCS scores and some of the domains of the SF-36. Conclusion: It was found that the different values of the GCS presented limitations for application in clinical practice for estimating the consequences of long term BHT.