title: Health-Related Quality of Life Among Caregivers of Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury.
abstract: The consequences of spinal cord injury (SCI) not only affect patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) but also extend to the entire family. The health condition the injury imposes requires the participation of a family caregiver, who will be responsible for taking care of the individual in a disabling condition. This is an observational, exploratory study using a cross-sectional design that aimed to study the association between HRQoL and gender, age, presence of comorbidities, and characteristics of the care among caregivers of individuals with SCI with the purpose of identifying potential factors that are associated with HRQoL in this population. Participants were 59 caregivers of individuals with traumatic SCI. The data were collected by consulting the patient histories and applying questionnaires. To assess the caregivers' HRQoL, the Short Form-36 was used. For analysis, exploratory and inferential statistics were used. Most of the caregivers of the individuals with SCI were female, with a mean age of 44.8 years. The domains that most contributed to a worse HRQoL were physical aspects, pain, vitality, and emotional aspects. No statistically significant associations were found between HRQoL and the variables gender, hours per day spent on care, and length of activity as caregiver. The associations between HRQoL and self-reported diseases and age were statistically significant. The results support the planning of nursing interventions from the perspective of aspects of the care demands, which can affect the caregiver's HRQoL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interventions to prepare the individuals with SCI and their caregivers are a strategy aimed at improving the HRQoL of both.
authors.affiliation: Questions or comments about this article may be directed to Paula Cristina Nogueira, RN PhD, at pcnogueira@usp.br. She is an Assistant Professor at the Medical Surgical Department, University of São Paulo at College of Nursing, São Paulo, Brazil. Soraia Assad Nasbine Rabeh, RN PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of General and Specialized Nursing, WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research Development, University of São Paulo at Ribeirao Preto College of Nursing, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Maria Helena Larcher Caliri, RN PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of General and Specialized Nursing, University of São Paulo at Ribeirao Preto College of Nursing, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Rosana Aparecida Spadoti Dantas, RN PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of General and Specialized Nursing, University of São Paulo at Ribeirao Preto College of Nursing, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paula Cristina
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.forename: Soraia Assad Nasbine
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rabeh
authors.forename: Maria Helena Larcher
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Caliri
authors.forename: Rosana Aparecida Spadoti
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Dantas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires