The financial impact of catastrophic injuries

Financial impact on the injured person is quite often severe, though reliable evidence on the extent of the impact is not always quantified.  

Measuring financial hardship  

The summary of a study reported by the National Center for Biotechnology Information sought to develop a brief scale that identified financial hardship for those with  traumatic brain injury . The abstract stated the recognized condition that financial hardship is often present in these cases, but that no good measuring criteria existed to verify this. Researchers used three existing survey instruments to determine financial well-being. A total of 136 family caregivers who watched over a person with a TBI filled out the questionnaire. The researchers then evaluated the reliability of the scale through reliability analysis and other factors. The study concluded that the scale helped show high levels of financial hardship and recommended further study on the issue.  

Understanding financial concerns  

Another study reported by NCBI dealt with the  financial concerns of patients  with musculoskeletal trauma. The study sought to look at factors that increased financial burden in these individuals. Of the participants in the study, even though many had health insurance, 25 percent of the patients surveyed indicated high level of concern due to the injury. In 54 percent of the cases, patients used their own savings to cover bills. The study concluded that patients with orthopedic trauma frequently experienced high rates of financial worry.