Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland.
Spinal Cord. 2013 Apr;51(4):322-6. doi: 10.1038/sc.2012.128. Epub 2012 Oct 30.
An international cross-sectional study.
To examine the quality of life (QoL) of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) across six countries worldwide, controlling for socio-demographic and lesion-related sample characteristics and using a cross-culturally valid assessment.
Data from 243 persons with SCI from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States were analyzed. QoL was measured using five satisfaction items from the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment. Cross-culturally valid, Rasch-transformed scores were used for comparison.
Analysis of variance showed a significant difference in QoL between countries (F=3.938; df=5; P=0.002). Shorter time since injury, no paid employment and living in Brazil were significant predictors of lower QoL, explaining 13% of variance in linear regression. Using multilevel regression with country as higher-order variable, time since injury and paid employment remained significant predictors and explained 18% of variance in QoL. The intraclass correlation coefficient (0.05) indicates that 5% of the variability can be accounted for by country.
This study showed QoL differences between countries that could not be explained by differences in demographic and lesion-related characteristics. Results point to the relevance of reintegration of people with SCI into the workforce. Further international comparative research using larger samples is recommended.
一项国际横断面研究。
通过控制社会人口学和损伤相关样本特征，并使用跨文化有效的评估方法，调查全球六个国家脊髓损伤（SCI）患者的生活质量（QoL）。
对来自澳大利亚、巴西、加拿大、以色列、南非和美国的 243 名 SCI 患者的数据进行了分析。使用世界卫生组织生活质量评估的五个满意度项目来衡量 QoL。使用跨文化有效的、Rasch 转换后的分数进行比较。
方差分析显示，不同国家之间的 QoL 存在显著差异（F=3.938；df=5；P=0.002）。受伤后时间较短、无薪就业和居住在巴西是 QoL 较低的显著预测因素，在线性回归中解释了 13%的方差。使用以国家为高阶变量的多层回归，受伤后时间和有薪就业仍然是显著的预测因素，解释了 QoL 的 18%。组内相关系数（0.05）表明，18%的变异性可以由国家来解释。
本研究表明，国家之间的 QoL 存在差异，这些差异不能用人口统计学和损伤相关特征的差异来解释。结果表明，将 SCI 患者重新融入劳动力队伍具有重要意义。建议使用更大的样本进行进一步的国际比较研究。
