title: Dimensions of Quality of Life in Spinal Cord Injured Veterans of Iran: a Qualitative Study.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to shed light on the identification of themes and sub-themes of the quality of life (QOL) in Iranian veterans with spinal cord injury (SCI). Studies have reported decreased QOL in SCI patients which encompass all aspects of their life. Little is known about QOL in SCI veterans from Iran. The aim of this qualitative study was to identify related aspects of such patients through in-depth patient interviews. The present study was a qualitative study of content analysis. Sampling took place in the Veterans Department of Khatam-Al-Anbia Hospital and was objective focused in accordance with qualitative studies. The participants were 11 SCI veterans and 4 veteran spouses. The data was collected by means of in-depth interviews and the use of the constant comparison method. The five themes of QOL included social, economic, cultural, medical, and environmental resulted from 7530 primary codes. We noted 29 QOL sub-themes. This article addresses different dimensions of QOL for SCI veterans. The current study suggests that the main aspects that should be evaluated in SCI veterans are the social, economic, cultural, medical, and environmental issues which affect their QOL. Moreover, participants put the most weight on their financial situation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA. AND Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Eslami
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Faezeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dehghan
authors.affiliation: Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. AND Department of Neurosurgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. AND Research Centre for Neural Repair, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Vafa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rahimi-Movaghar
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014728:Veterans
keywords: Outcomes; Qualitative; Quality of life; Spinal cord injury; Veteran