title: Health behavior in persons with spinal cord injury: development and initial validation of an outcome measure.
abstract: 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).
  
  
  METHODS
  Persons with SCI were surveyed during routine annual physical evaluations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Veterans Affairs Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Unit, which specializes in primary care for persons with SCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-nine persons with SCI, aged 19-73 years, 1-50 years post-SCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.affiliation: University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Pruitt
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Wahlgren
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Epping-Jordan
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rossi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome