Article

OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence of secondary health conditions among
persons with long-term spinal cord injury, and the relationship between these
secondary health conditions and quality of life. DESIGN: Multicentre,
cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: Individuals (n = 282) with traumatic or
non-traumatic spinal cord injury for >/= 10 years, age at injury 18-35 years,
current age 28-65 years, and using a wheelchair.
METHODS: Occurrence of 13
secondary health conditions was assessed during a consultation with a
rehabilitation physician. Quality of life was measured with the International
Spinal Cord Injury Quality of Life Basic Data Set. RESULTS: Median time since
injury was 22.0 years. Median number of secondary health conditions was 4. The
most prevalent secondary health conditions were: musculoskeletal pain (63.5%),
oedema (38.7%), neuropathic pain (34.1%) and urinary tract infections (33.3%).
Only oedema showed a significant association with increasing time since injury.
Median Total Quality of Life Basic Data Set score was 7. Musculoskeletal pain,
pressure ulcers, problematic spasticity and constipation showed an independent
association with quality of life in multiple regression analysis, but in general,
these associations were weak. CONCLUSION: Secondary health conditions are common
among persons with long-term spinal cord injury and the following secondary
health conditions were independently associated with lower quality of life:
musculoskeletal pain, pressure ulcers, problematic spasticity, and constipation.
Minimizing the impact of secondary health conditions should be a priority in the
long-term care of persons with spinal cord injury.

Langue : ANGLAIS