Assessing the quality of life among nonfatal road traffic accident victims by using WHO-QOL-BREF

Background/Objectives: Road traffic accident affects people more in terms of disability with prolonged treatment than premature death. More people suffer from nonfatal injuries, with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury. The study aims to report the quality of life among nonfatal road traffic accident victims of Karnataka state, India. Methodology: Consecutive data of 6 years (2013–2018) on road traffic injuries of the state of Karnataka were collected from the States Crimes Records Bureau of Karnataka. The contact details of victims categorized as nonfatal were traced out. Finally, 286 nonfatal cases were selected as respondents. Data were collected using WHO-QOL-BREF questionnaire to measure the quality of life. Results: The better quality of life in all the four domains, that is, physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental health, was found among the less injured category of victims. There was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) among the different categories of accidents as well as the types of postaccident occupation of the respondents for all the four domains. A significant variation was found across different age groups for the physical health domain. Respondents of below 18 years were found with the better mean score for all the domains. Similar differences are observed for education for all the domains, except the social relation domain. The Mann–Whitney U-test revealed a significant difference between those who received the compensation and those who did not receive the compensation for the psychological domain. Conclusions: The study warrants policy-related measures with ease of compensation procedures by simplifying the insurance processes and counseling. Indeed, rehabilitation measures need to be taken seriously by the government as the support system is vital for the improvement for quality of life among road traffic accident victims.