Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Health-related quality of life for veterans with spinal cord injury

Smith BM, Lavela SL, Weaver FM. Health-related quality of life for veterans with spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord. 2008 Jul 1; 46(7):507-12.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the association between the characteristics of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL). SETTING: The United States. METHODS: Questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey were sent to veterans with SCI. The analyses included 2302 respondents. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between subject characteristics and the following four measures of HRQoL: frequent physical distress (FPD), frequent mental distress (FMD), frequent depressive symptoms (FDS) and poor or fair self-reported health. RESULTS: Approximately 19% of the respondents reported FMD, 27% reported FPD, 17% reported FDS and 29% reported poor or fair health. Veterans who self-reported chronic illnesses, had higher odds of reporting FPD, FMD, FDS and poor or fair health than veterans who did not report chronic illnesses. Smoking was significantly associated with decreased HRQoL. Older veterans had higher odds of reporting poor or fair health and FPD than younger veterans. Higher levels of education were associated with lower odds of FMD, FDS and poor or fair health. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic illnesses and smoking have a substantial effect on HRQoL for persons with SCI, suggesting the importance of continued efforts to improve smoking cessation methods and to treat and prevent chronic conditions.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.