Quality of Life in Iranian Men With Spinal Cord Injury in Comparison With General Population

Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) imposes a tremendous burden on physical, mental and psychosocial aspects of life among affected individuals. Objectives: Until now, there was no statistics about the quality of life (QoL) in Iranian males with SCI. Here, we assessed the QoL among Iranian men with SCI and compared it with general population. Patients and Methods: Referred male patients with SCI to Brain and Spinal Injury Research Center (BASIR) were invited to participate in this investigation. The QoL was measured by the Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36). One sample T-test was used to compare outcomes with normal distribution. Values in general population in Iran were extracted from previous literatures. Results: Total of 153 patients with mean age of 35.10 +/- 16.20 years old participated in this study. The most common reason of trauma was road accidents (49.7%). Cervical level injury was seen in 47% of patients, thoracic level in 28.1% and lumbosacral level in 24.9%. QoL was assessed in eight domains. Mean scores in domain of physical functioning was significantly higher in general population (28.2 +/- 25.3 and 87.8 +/- 19.0 in SCI group and general population, respectively, P < 0.0001). Similarly, scores in domain of physical and emotional role functioning were higher in general population (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.002, respectively). No significant difference was seen between males with SCI and general population in domain of mental health (70.5 +/- 19.6 and 69.2 +/- 17.1 in SCI group and general population, respectively; P = 0.37). Conclusions: This study shows that men with SCI have significant reduced QoL in comparison with general population. However, it seems that the scores in domain of mental health are not affected by SCI and this aspect of QoL is spared to some extents after injury.