To investigate the Quality of Life (QoL) scores and outcomes of individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in Latin America.

The effects of TBI on quality of life are well documented in developed countries; however, in Latin America, with its distinct socioeconomic and cultural factors, knowledge about patients' quality of life is limited.

A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Embase, WOS, Lilacs, Scielo, EBSCO CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, and Google Scholar for studies conducted up to May 20th,2023. Studies aiming to assess the quality of life among individuals with post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Latin America were selected. In addition, only clinical trials and observational studies were included. Narrative and thematic synthesis was performed by two independent researchers.

A total of 1555 studies were screened, and seven were selected, representing 732 patients. Among them, three articles focused on pediatric patients, while the rest focused on adults. One study was a randomized clinical trial, two prospective cohorts, and four cross-sectional studies. The instruments were heterogeneous; the most common (n=3) was the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Follow-up ranged from three months to 108 months. Five studies showed statistically significant lower total scores and physical domain in post-TBI individuals compared to controls. In the studies using SF-36, the most affected domains were the role limitations due to physical health (mean = 71.23 ± 26.47) and emotional problems (mean = 73.35 ± 31.09). Most studies that reported injury severity (n=4) did not find differences between TBI severity subgroups.

Our findings demonstrated lower QoL scores in TBI survivors from Latin America, mainly related to physical and emotional limitations. Interestingly, the lower scores were not different among injury severity subgroups. QoL in post-TBI patients in Latin America is overlooked, necessitating further research.