OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and initial psychometric properties of a new outcome measure for health behaviors that delay or prevent secondary impairments associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Persons with SCI were surveyed during routine annual physical evaluations. SETTING: Veterans Affairs Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Unit, which specializes in primary care for persons with SCI. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-nine persons with SCI, aged 19-73 years, 1-50 years post-SCI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The newly developed Spinal Cord Injury Lifestyle Scale (SCILS). RESULTS: Internal consistency is high (alpha = 0.81). Correlations between clinicians' ratings of participants' health behavior and the new SCILS provide preliminary support for construct validity. CONCLUSIONS: The SCILS is a brief, self-report measure of health-related behavior in persons with SCI. It is a promising new outcome measure to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical and educational efforts for health maintenance and prevention of secondary impairments associated with SCI.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and initial psychometric properties of a new outcome measure for health behaviors that delay or prevent secondary impairments associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN:Persons with SCI were surveyed during routine annual physical evaluations. SETTING: Veterans Affairs Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Unit, which specializes in primary care for persons with SCI. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-nine persons with SCI, aged 19-73 years, 1-50 years post-SCI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The newly developed Spinal Cord Injury Lifestyle Scale (SCILS). RESULTS: Internal consistency is high (alpha = 0.81). Correlations between clinicians' ratings of participants' health behavior and the new SCILS provide preliminary support for construct validity. CONCLUSIONS: The SCILS is a brief, self-report measure of health-related behavior in persons with SCI. It is a promising new outcome measure to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical and educational efforts for health maintenance and prevention of secondary impairments associated with SCI.
Authors: Gaya Jeyathevan; Susan B Jaglal; Sander L Hitzig; Gary Linassi; Sandra Mills; Vanessa K Noonan; Karen Anzai; Teren Clarke; Dalton Wolfe; Mark Bayley; Lubna Aslam; Farnoosh Farahani; S Mohammad Alavinia; Maryam Omidvar; B Catharine Craven Journal: J Spinal Cord Med Date: 2021 Impact factor: 1.985