SF-36 is an example of a measure that covers a wide range of aspects of health. For some purposes, particular aspects are of special interest, such as the functional consequences of injury. The FCI is tailored to measure this aspect. The upshot seems to be that established general-purpose measures of health states will play a large part in measuring health states related to injury, though they probably need to be complemented by special purpose instruments. Variations and elaborations may be emerging, but this continues to be a troublesome aspect of measuring the burden of injury.
Broad scope has the appeal of inclusiveness.
However, investigators typically find that data are most available and of better quality for direct health costs and related components. Consequently, models restricted to such components tend to require fewer and less bold assumptions than more inclusive models. Even where models have a wider scope, consideration should be given to reporting estimates in a manner that enables a well-defined set of direct costs to be distinguished. Purposes for measuring the burden of injury are diverse, and include support for clinical management decisions, clinical outcomes research, health service resource allocation, monitoring of health status and advocacy. Different purposes place different demands on measures of burden.