SKIN SORES AFTER SPINAL-CORD INJURY - RELATIONSHIP TO LIFE ADJUSTMENT

Study design: A field study of the relationship between skin sores and life adjustment after spinal cord injury (SCI) was conducted by surve ying a sample of more than 1000 participants with SCI. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the nu mber of skin sores and days adversely impacted by skin sores with mult iple indicators of life adjustment after SCI. Summary of background da ta: Most existing research on skin sores after SCI has been epidemiolo gic in nature, with limited investigation of the relationship between problems with skin sores and psychosocial adjustment. Methods: A total of 1017 participants completed the Life Situation Questionnaire-revis ed (LSQ-R), a measure of multiple long-term outcomes after SCI. Result s: Just less than half of all respondents (46%) reported having at lea st one skin sore during the 2 year period prior to the study, but only 27% reported having to reduce their sitting time by at least 1 day du ring the same time period due to skin sores. Although biographic chara cteristics were generally unrelated to skin sores (eg, gender, race), both the number of skin sores and days adversely impacted by sores wer e correlated with poorer adjustment in nearly every area of life studi ed. Conclusions: Although the results are correlational and cannot be taken as evidence for causation, it is clear that prevention of skin s ores is critical for people with SCI. There is a need for research to identify psychological and behavioral risk factors for skin problems a fter SCI.