PURPOSE
The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among pain belief, perceived social support, coping strategies, and quality of life of people with noncongenital spinal cord injury and to identify factors influencing quality of life.
METHODS
A correlational predictive design was used. The data were collected from 197 people with noncongenital spinal cord injury with questionnaires in 2012 in Korea. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression using SPSS/WIN 18.0.
RESULTS
Pain belief, perceived social support, and coping strategies were correlated significantly with the quality of life. As a result of stepwise multiple regression analysis, pain belief, perceived social support, coping strategies, damaged area, and time since injury were discovered to account for 59.1% variance of the quality of life. The variable that most affected the quality of life was pain belief followed by perceived social support and coping strategies.
CONCLUSION
The results of the study clearly demonstrate the importance of pain control, social support, and coping skills in order to improve quality of life among people with noncongenital spinal cord injury.

Citations

• Quality of Life in Middle-aged Men with Prostatic hyperplasia: A Structural Equation Model
  Hee Nam Moon, Seung Hee Yang
  Korean Journal of Adult Nursing.2023; 35(4): 327.     CrossRef
• Access and engagement with places in the community, and the quality of life among people with spinal cord damage
  Ali Lakhani, Sanjoti Parekh, David P. Watling, Peter Grimbeek, Ross Duncan, Susan Charlifue, Elizabeth Kendall
  The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine.2022; 45(4): 522.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
The purpose of the study was to identify levels of hope, self-esteem, and quality of life, and to find correlations among these variables in people with spinal cord injury.
METHODS
This study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. The data were collected by survey interview in 2010 from 120 people with spinal cord injury living in the community. To measure hope, self-esteem and quality of life, the Dispositional Hope Scale, Self-Esteem Scale, and World Health Organization's Quality of Life Instrument were utilized respectively. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation and stepwise multiple regression analysis using SPSS version 12.0.
RESULTS
Mean score of hope was 2.56 and that of self-esteem was 3.23. Mean score of quality of life was 3.01. Statistically significant relationships were found between quality of life and hope (r=.73, p<.001), and between quality of life and self-esteem (r=.67, p<.001). Multiple regression analyses showed that hope and self-esteem were statistically significant in predicting quality of life with the explanatory power of 59.1%.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study indicate that nursing interventions fostering hope and self-esteem should be integrated in developing rehabilitation programs to improve quality of life for people with spinal cord injury.

PURPOSE
The purpose of the study was to understand and describe health-related experience of women with physical disabilities, using feminist qualitative approach.
METHODS
Eight women with physical disabilities participated to the study. Their mean age was 43, ranging from 39 to 67 years old. The data were collected by individual in-depth interviews and all interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The transcribed data were analyzed using traditional qualitative content analysis from a feminist perspective.
RESULTS
Six major categories emerged from the data. Category 1: "Isolation and alienation from the world.", Category 2: "A distorted self-image of physically disabled body.", Category 3: "Difficulties due to a fixed gender role.", Category 4: "Constant suffering from chronic pain.", Category 5: "Health problems that they have to endure by themselves.", Category 6: "Sublimation through selfreliance." The results of the study show how Korean women with physical disabilities suffer from social stigma, indifferences, and discriminations and struggle to survive in these unfriendly surroundings.
CONCLUSION
The results of the study would help health professionals in designing effective intervention to improve health and to empower women with physical disabilities by providing deep understanding and critical insights of those women.