Health behavior in persons with spinal cord injury: development and initial validation of an outcome measure.
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.
Pruitt
S D
SD
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, USA.
Wahlgren
D R
DR
Epping-Jordan
J E
JE
Rossi
A L
AL
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