• Mathilde Hedlund, Elisabeth Ronne-Engström, Marianne Carlsson, and Lisa Ekselius.
• Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
• Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2010 Aug 1;152(8):1375-82; discussion 1382.

PurposeSubarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) reduces health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and increases the risk of psychiatric sequels such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Especially those with a psychiatric history and those using maladaptive coping strategies are at risk for such sequels. The extent to which HRQoL after SAH was related to a history of psychiatric morbidity and to the use of various coping strategies was assessed.MethodsPatients admitted to the Uppsala University Hospital with aneurysmal SAH (n = 59) were investigated prospectively. Seven months after SAH, data were collected using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders, the Short Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey and the Jalowiec Coping Scale.ResultsPatients with SAH had lower HRQoL than the general Swedish population in all eight domains of the SF-36. The lower HRQoL was almost entirely in the subgroup with a psychiatric history. HRQoL was also strongly correlated to the use of coping. Physical domains of SF-36 were less affected than mental domains. Those with a psychiatric history used more coping than the remainder with respect to all emotional coping scales. Coping and the presence of a psychiatric history were more strongly related to mental than to physical components of HRQoL.ConclusionsA psychiatric history and the use of maladaptive emotional coping were related to worse HRQoL, more to mental than to physical aspects.

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