A Study of Quality of Life Issues for Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury Following Treatment and Financial Settlement

Over one-quarter of a million Americans are effected by spinal cord injuries based on data from the Christopher Reeve Foundation (Reeve, 2001). As medical technology has advanced and more individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are surviving their injuries and living with SCI, improvement of quality of life has evolved as a primary focus. For this current study, three hundred participants were selected from a clinical database of individuals with spinal cord injury. Twenty-one respondents (7%) completed a demographic questionnaire and a multi-dimensional adjustment profile (MAP) that measures the participants’ subjective estimates of quality of life in work, health, finance, relationships, and other areas. Results of the study are presented as well as a discussion and concluding comments.