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Health behavior in persons with spinal cord injury: development and initial validation of an outcome measure
S D Pruitt1, D R Wahlgren, J E Epping-Jordan
1University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, USA.
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).
Design:
Persons with SCI were surveyed during routine annual physical evaluations.
Setting:
Veterans Affairs Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Unit, which specializes in primary care for persons with SCI.
Participants:
Forty-nine persons with SCI, aged 19-73 years, 1-50 years post-SCI.
Main Outcome Measure:
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.