Quality of life of persons with traumatic spinal cord injury in rural Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: a community survey

Abstract

Aim: To describe the quality of life of persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in a rural area of a low-income country.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study in which snowballing was used to identify persons with TSCI in their homes. A Kiswahili version of the short version of the World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed descriptively and independent samples t-tests were used to calculate the difference in the mean scores between groups.

Results: Eighty persons with TSCI with a mean age of 42.29 ± 11.4 years were identified, 68.8% of whom were males. The highest scoring domains were psychological (12.76 ± 2.55) and social relationships (12.62 ± 2.95). The lowest scores were for physical (11.48 ± 2.74) and environment (9.59 ± 2.68) domains. Significantly higher scores were associated with younger age in: physical (0.05), social relationships (0.01), and environment (0.02) domains (p value < 0.05).

Conclusions: Persons with TSCI in the Kilimanjaro rural area registered a relatively low quality of life in which the most affected domains are physical health and environment.Implications for rehabilitationQuality of life is the ultimate goal in the rehabilitation of persons with any irreversible disability such as spinal cord injury.It is important for rehabilitation professionals to know which domains of quality of life are most affected among persons with spinal cord injury.Rehabilitation professionals ought to understand and address physical health and environmental issues that affect persons with traumatic spinal cord injury in rural resource-constrained areas.Addressing physical health and environmental challenges for persons with spinal cord injury in resource-constrained rural areas require involvement of the family, rehabilitation personnel, policy makers, and the community.

Keywords: Rehabilitation; developing countries; disability evaluation; environmental health; environmental impact; wheelchair.