Correlates of Life Satisfaction and Depression in Middle-Aged and Elderly Spinal Cord–Injured Persons

Abstract

Advances in health care science allow more people with spinal cord injuries to live to old age. The purpose of this study was to determine those factors that contribute to the well-being of middle-aged and elderly spinal cord-injured people. One hundred spinal cord-injured people, ranging in age from 40 to 73 years, completed an extensive structured interview. In general, respondents reported a degree of well-being on the same measures of satisfaction and depression that was slightly lower than that of similarly aged nondisabled people. Pearson correlations indicated that people experiencing high levels of well-being reported high levels of perceived control, had higher levels of social support, and judged their health status to be good. These people also viewed their disability more favorably, tended to have higher incomes and more education, were employed, and were more religious than those indicating lower levels of well-being. The severity of the spinal cord injury was not correlated highly with subjective well-being, although there was a tendency for those with greater disability to report lower levels of well-being. People who were younger, who incurred their disability at a younger age, and who blamed themselves and felt they could have avoided the injury also tended to report higher levels of well-being.

Measuring quality of life of persons with spinal cord injury: external and structural validity

“…Perceived control has been shown to be signi®cantly associated with QOL in three separate studies of individuals with spinal cord injury. 16,29,38 These results are contradictory to the present study and it is possibly related to either di erences between the sample of this study or measures used. The results and implications are unclear.…”

“…Although most studies have evaluated speci®c aspects of participation separately, conclusions consistently show that enhanced participation is associated with greater quality of life. 5,15,16,29,34 Community integration of rehabilitation clients, as measured by the RNL, was related to QOL and the magnitude of the correlation was similar to this study. 24 Multiple components of participation are associated with quality of life demonstrating the importance of rehabilitation e orts toward community reintegration and successful participation in society.…”

“…11 With respect to the relationship between quality of life and impairment of body functions and structures as represented by level of injury, the literature is fairly consistent. Most studies have found no signi®cant di erence in the QOL scores between groups based on level of injury 29,30 although contradictory results of one study 15 may be related to di erences in the sample and methods. Using the ASIA total motor index score, as used in this study, other research has found little or no association between body functions and structures and QOL.…”

“…33 Documented research has not demonstrated consistent results with respect to the magnitude of the relationship between QOL and activity. Signi®cant correlations have been documented between QOL and function in daily activities, 26,29 however other studies 16,32 Di erences in the measures used to evaluate functional independence and QOL could explain the varied results. In addition, none of the QOL measures used were validated for persons with spinal cord injury.…”

“…Some studies report low perceived or external locus of control 16,35 while others have found a more internally oriented or higher perception of control. 29,37 It is di cult to compare results when di erent measures were used. Perceived control has been shown to be signi®cantly associated with QOL in three separate studies of individuals with spinal cord injury.…”