[Psychological implications of medical information for patients - considerations in rehabilitees with spinal cord injuries].

The article describes the necessity of medical information also in patients with severe injury, as a conclusion of subjective illness theory ("lay theory") and other theoretical considerations. Analysing the data of a retrospective questionnaire investigation, 71 persons with spinal cord injuries were explored concerning psychological issues of rehabilitation. The results show empirical evidence of expected positive psychological correlations if patients are satisfied with their medical information. There is a low rate of well-informed patients as well as a high need for this particular information about diagnosis and prognosis; possible reasons are discussed and the lack of information is argued.