The impact of symptom burden on the health status of service members with extremity trauma

Background: Service members injured in combat undergo repeated surgeries and long recoveries following a traumatic injury that produce a myriad of physical and psychological symptoms. Purpose: To describe the severity of pain, sleep disturbance, depression, and anxiety in service members with extremity trauma sustained during combat operations at the time of discharge from the hospital and to evaluate for differences in health status between those with and without symptom burden. Method: Descriptive study of 130 United States Army service members. Discussion: More than 80% of the service members were classified as having symptom burden. Service members who reported one or more clinically meaningful levels of pain, sleep disturbance, depression, or anxiety reported significantly worse health status compared to those without symptom burden. Conclusions: Service members with extremity trauma experience clinically significant levels of pain, sleep disturbance, depression, and/or anxiety at the time of discharge from the hospital. The greater the service members' symptom burden, the worse their reported health status.