Adjustment after spinal cord injury: a 9-year longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective: To generate longitudinal data on the stability of life adjustment over a 9-year period among a sample of participants with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: A field study was conducted by surveying the adjustment of a sample of participants with SCI in 1985 and again in 1994.

Setting: Outpatient files of a large, university hospital in the Midwest.

Participants: All 235 participants had traumatic onset SCI, were a minimum of 18 years of age at the time of first testing, and were no less than 2 years postinjury. The average age was 46.7 yrs at the time of the 1994 study, with an average of 23.4 yrs having passed since injury.

Main outcome measures: The Life Situation Questionnaire (LSO) was the outcome measure used. It was developed in 1973 to measure mostly objective information on adjustment and quality of life after SCI. It contains 7 scales and 40 individual items that were of interest in the current study.

Results: Declines were identified over the 9-year period in several aspects of subjective well-being, even though there were no declines in overall activity level and some limited increases in participation in employment related activities.

Conclusions: The results of this study were in contrast to previous longitudinal follow-ups that identified positive changes over time in both subjective and objective aspects of quality of life. These changes suggest that participants had a less optimistic outlook in 1994 than they did in 1985.