Quality of life of primary caregivers of spinal cord injury survivors living in the community: controlled study with short form-36 questionnaire

Objective: To compare the quality of life scores of primary caregivers of s pinal cord injury survivors living in the community with healthy age matche d-population based controls and to determine the relationship between some severity parameters related with spinal cord injury and the quality of life scores of primary caregivers. Setting: University hospital, rehabilitation centre. Methods: Fifty primary caregivers of spinal cord injured patients living in the community and 40 healthy age-matched controls completed SF-36 (short f orm-36) questionnaire forms. Questionnaires were administered by interviewe rs who were physiatrists and the authors of the present study. All the pati ents were rehabilitated by the authors and data about the duration of injur y, lesion levels, ASIA scores, degree of spasticity, presence of bladder an d bowel incontinence and pressure sores were gathered from the hospital rec ordings and/or by physical examinations during control visits when the prim ary caregivers were administered the questionnaires. Results: Quality of life scores measured by SF-36 were significantly low in the primary caregivers group compared to age-matched healthy population ba sed controls. No significant relation was demonstrated between the quality of life scores of primary caregivers and parameters such as the duration of injury, lesion levels, ASIA scores, degree of spasticity, bladder and/or b owel incontinence and pressure sores respectively. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, being a primary caregiver of a spinal cord injured victim significantly interferes with qua lity of life; some severity parameters related to the injury however do not seem to have an additional impact on the primary caregiver's life quality.