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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.119826v1 98/6/1094    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Corso, P. S. Articles by Mercy, J. A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Corso, P. S. Articles by Mercy, J. A.

Phaedra S. Corso, PhD, Valerie J. Edwards, PhD, Xiangming Fang, PhD and James A. Mercy, PhD

At the time of the study, Phaedra S. Corso was with the Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, and the Division of Violence Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. Xiangming Fang and James A. Mercy are with the Division of Violence Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Valerie J. Edwards is with the Division of Adult and Community Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Phaedra Corso, Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, N125 Paul Coverdell Center, Athens, GA 30602-7397 (e-mail: pcorso{at}uga.edu).

Objectives. We sought to assess the difference in a preference-based measure of health among adults reporting maltreatment as a child versus those reporting no maltreatment.

Methods. Using data from a study of adults who reported adverse childhood experiences and current health status, we matched adults who reported childhood maltreatment (n = 2812) to those who reported no childhood maltreatment (n = 3356). Propensity score methods were used to compare the 2 groups. Health-related quality-of-life data (or "utilities") were imputed from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey using the Short Form–6D preference-based scoring algorithm.

Results. The combined strata-level effects of maltreatment on Short Form–6D utility was a reduction of 0.028 per year (95% confidence interval=0.022, 0.034; P<.001). All utility losses for the childhood-maltreatment versus no-childhood-maltreatment groups by age group were significantly different: 18–39 years, 0.042; 40–49 years, 0.038; 50–59 years, 0.023; 60–69 years, 0.016; 70 or more years, 0.025.

Conclusions. Persons who experienced childhood maltreatment had significant and sustained losses in health-related quality of life in adulthood relative to persons who did not experience maltreatment. These data are useful for asessing the cost-effectiveness of interventions designed to prevent child maltreatment in terms of cost per quality-adjusted life years saved.