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Comparative Study
. 2011 Mar;49(3):365-70.
doi: 10.1038/sc.2010.102. Epub 2010 Aug 10.

Quality of life in adults with spinal cord injury living in the community

C E Migliorini  1 , P W New, B J Tonge
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Quality of life in adults with spinal cord injury living in the community

C E Migliorini et al. Spinal Cord. 2011 Mar.

Abstract

Study design: The study design used is cross-sectional descriptive survey.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe the subjective and objective quality of life (QoL) of adults with chronic non-traumatic spinal cord injury (NT-SCI) and to compare the objective and subjective QoL of adults with chronic NT-SCI with adults who have a chronic traumatic spinal cord injury (T-SCI) and the general population.

Setting: Living in the general community (non-residential care), Australia.

Participants: The study included 443 adults with SCI (T-SCI, n=381) (NT-SCI, n=62), all SCI ≥6 months duration.

Intervention: Not applicable.

Main outcome measures: Objective and subjective QoL domains--Comprehensive QoL Scale for Adults, version 5 (COMQoL-A5); acceptance subscale--the Spinal Cord Lesion Coping Strategies Questionnaire, version 1 Australia (SCL CSQ v1.0 Australia).

Results: Despite demographic differences, only the objective QoL domain material (higher in NT-SCI) and the subjective QoL domain health (lower in NT-SCI) were significantly different between the SCI subgroups. In contrast, five of the seven objective domains and four of the seven subjective domains were significantly lower in the SCI sample as a whole, compared with the general population. Post hoc analyses suggested that aetiology of the SCI was not responsible for QoL differences within the cohort with SCI.

Conclusion: On the whole, aetiology makes little difference to QoL outcomes after SCI. The QoL of adults with chronic T-SCI and NT-SCI fall significantly below that of the general population in most domains.

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