Factors associated with perceived social isolation among veterans with spinal cord injury and disorders: Cross sectional survey

Abstract

Context/objective: Examine demographics, injury characteristics, objective measures of social isolation and health factors that are associated with perceived social isolation (PSI) among Veterans with spinal cord injury and disorders (SCI/D).

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: The Veterans Health Administrations (VHA) SCI/D system of care.

Participants: Veterans with SCI/D who have used the VHA health care system.

Intervention: Not applicable.

Outcomes measures: We assessed unadjusted associations of high PSI (above population mean) vs low (normative/below population mean), and multivariable logistic regression for independent associations with PSI.

Results: Out of 1942 Veterans with SCI/D, 421 completed the survey (22% response rate). Over half (56%) had PSI mean scores higher than the general population. Among the objective measures, having a smaller social network size was associated with increased odds of high PSI (OR 3.59, P < .0001); additionally, for health factors, having depression (OR 3.98, P < 0.0001), anxiety (OR 2.29, P = 0.009), and post-traumatic stress (OR 2.56, P = 0.003) in the previous 6 months, and having 4 or more chronically occurring secondary conditions (OR 1.78, P = 0.045) was associated with increased odds of high PSI. The most commonly identified contributors to feelings of PSI included mobility concerns (63%), having a SCI/D (61%), and concerns about being a burden on others (57%).

Conclusions: Factors such as social network size may be used to identify individuals with SCI/D at risk for PSI. Additionally, by identifying mental health problems, presence of multiple chronically occurring secondary conditions, and Veteran-identified contributors of PSI, we can target these factors in a patient-centered interventions to identify and reduce PSI.

Keywords: Loneliness; Perceived social isolation; Spinal cord injury and disorder; Veteran.