AGING AND LIFE ADJUSTMENT AFTER SPINAL-CORD INJURY

Study Design: A held study of aging after spinal cord injury (SCI) was conducted by surveying the life adjustment of a large sample of parti cipants with SCI. Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to compare life adjustment scores between cohorts of participants based o n chronologic age, age at injury onset, time since injury and percenta ge of life with SCI. Summary of Background Data: Existing cross-sectio nal research suggests that age is negatively correlated and time since injury is positively correlated with life adjustment. However, few st udies had investigated aging among people who have lived 30 or more ye ars with SCI. Methods: A total of 435 participants, 55 of whom were in jured for 30 or more years, completed the Life Situation Questionnaire -Revised (LSQ-R), a measure of multiple SCI outcomes. Results: Results indicated that being injured later in life is associated with a lower overall level of subjective well-being, poorer health, and a less act ive lifestyle. However, subjective well-being appears to improve throu ghout the life-cycle, even beyond 30 years postinjury, thus neutralizi ng the adverse impact of age at onset on subjective well-being, but no t on health or activities. Conclusions: The results suggest that rehab ilitation professionals need to pay special attention to problems pres ented by being injured after the age of 40, particularly as it relates to activities. Living 30 or more years with SCI does not appear to pr esent overwhelming barriers to adjustment.