The Relationship between Activity Performance and Life Satisfaction Appears Complex

Past Studies

Past Studies have expressed two schools of thought regarding rehabilitation outcomes. One school has proposed that rehabilitation outcome should be measured in terms of its impact on quality of life. Quality of life involves an individuals’ experience and their opinion of what their circumstances are compared to what they thinks it should be.

The other school of thought is that rehabilitation outcomes should be measured in terms of improvement in function or community activities. Clinicians measure individual progress in rehabilitation using standardized tests. Such tests include standard sets of activities. Standard measures of outcome evaluate all individuals on the same group of activity items. It has not been determined how the activities on the standardized measures are associated with the individual’s perception of quality of life.

This Study

This study included 162 individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. The researchers examined the individuals’ participation in activities and reported quality of life. The researchers collected data at one month after the participants were discharged from inpatient rehabilitation and at one year after their injury. The participants completed a questionnaire about a list of community activities. They rated how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with each activity, if they would like to change the activity, and how important it was to them to have the activity changed.

The researchers found little relationship between performance of activities and ratings of quality of life. The participants reported that they were satisfied with most of their community activities. A common dissatisfaction stated was the lack of paid employment. Associations between activity-specific satisfaction and general life satisfaction were weak. Dissatisfaction with an activity correlated strongly with desire to change the activity, but general life satisfaction did not correlate with desire to change activities.

Who May Be Affected By These Findings

Individuals with traumatic brain injury, rehabilitation personnel, researchers

Caveats

This study did not consider the participants’ preinjury activities or the role they play in the individuals’ satisfaction of current activities. Although a long list of activities were queried, it is possible that the activities included were not necessarily the most important one’s to the individuals.

Bottom Line

The low relationship between satisfaction with specific activities and general life satisfaction was opposite of what the researchers expected to conclude. The results of this study do not explain the complexities of activity participation and life satisfaction. The results support the need to individualize outcome measures, weighting them according to the varying value or significance they have to different individuals.

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