A systematic search and narrative review of existing literature on the medium- and long-term impacts of injuries was conducted to provide context for a primary research study.

Searches were undertaken in MEDLINE, CINHAL and Science Citation Index using a combination of free text and Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms. Studies were included if they assessed outcomes following injury at least six months post-injury and reported morbidity-related outcomes. A standardized data extraction form was developed, and studies were assessed for quality using standard quality assessment criteria. The main characteristics of included studies were presented in structured tables and synthesized using a narrative summary.

The search strategy identified 4,969 abstracts and/or titles, of which 125 appeared relevant. Following a detailed reading of the material, 32 studies met the inclusion criteria of this review. Summarizing the results of the studies was difficult, as they were of moderate quality and used many different methods. The main findings were that at 12 months post-injury a proportion of injured patients continue to suffer from physical, psychological, and social problems and this proportion doesn't decline over the next few years. In the medium term (12 months–5 years) about 10–25% of casualties continue to report a variety of health problems associated with their injuries.

It is difficult to synthesize injury outcome studies because of the varying methodological approaches, study populations, follow-up periods, and outcome measures used. The evidence that exists suggests that many casualties demonstrate good early recovery but a significant proportion still show significant social, physical, and psychological sequelae one to five years post-injury.