Psychological contributions to functional independence: a longitudinal investigation of spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the contribution of prerehabilitation appraisals of spinal cord injury (SCI) and patient's coping strategies to the variance in functional independence postdischarge.

DESIGN

Longitudinal, cohort study. Patients aged 16 and older and sustaining an SCI were recruited from English- and German-speaking specialist spinal injuries centers. Measures of appraisals, coping strategies, mood, and functional independence were administered on commencing active rehabilitation (12-weeks postinjury) and following hospital discharge (1-y postinjury).

SETTING

Specialist SCI rehabilitation centers in England, Germany, Switzerland, and Ireland.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients (N=127) completed questionnaires at both time points. Sample age ranged between 17.5 and 64.5 years with a mean age of 39.3 years. Demographic and injury characteristics were similar to those reported in international statistics databases.

INTERVENTIONS

Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

FIM (motor subscale).

RESULTS

Injury characteristics, age, sex, current depression, and the utilization of the coping strategy, social reliance, at 12-weeks postinjury explained 33.5% of the variance in motor FIM at 1-year postinjury. Strong relationships were found between appraisals, coping styles, mood, and functional outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The coping strategy, social reliance, was found to contribute significantly when explaining the variance in functional outcomes. Suggestions were made to assess appraisals and coping strategies early in rehabilitation in order to provide effective interventions and additional support to those scoring highly on negative coping styles. Further research is recommended to provide support for the relationship between dependent coping strategies and functional outcomes.