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Updated: Apr 29, 2026
Evaluation of Respiratory Muscle Activation Using Respiratory Motor Control Assessment RMCA in Individuals with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: July 19, 2013
Relation between work hours, work control, work stress, and quality of life in persons with spinal cord injury
Renée van Dinter1, Michiel F Reneman1, Marcel W M Post2
1University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Center for Rehabilitation, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Background:
Work participation is related to a better quality of life (QoL) for people with spinal cord injury (SCI), however, the specific work characteristics that are related to QoL in people with SCI are largely unknown.
Objectives:
To investigate which work characteristics are related to QoL in people with SCI.
Methods:
Cross-sectional survey of people with SCI in the Netherlands. The survey consisted of demographic, SCI-related, and work-related items. Work control was measured with the short Job Content Questionnaire and work stress with the effort-reward imbalance (ERI). People of working age with at least 1 h of paid work per week were included. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to examine the contribution of work characteristics to QoL while controlling for potential clinical and demographic confounders.
Results:
The study included 169 persons with SCI (74.6 % male, 47.8 ± 9.3 years, time since injury 18.9 ± 11.1 years). The final hierarchical regression model explained 31 % of the variance in QoL. The number of SCI-related health complications contributed the strongest to QoL (ß = -.36), followed by work hours (β = .24), and work stress (β = .24). However, work control did not contribute significantly to QoL in our final model.
Conclusion:
Work hours and work stress contributed to QoL in people with SCI, but the number of SCI-related health complications was the strongest contributor. Future research and vocational rehabilitation should be directed to both medical and work-related variables to enhance the QoL of working people with SCI.
