Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a permanent disability which negatively affects individuals' health and particularly their quality of life.
Objective: To assess the quality of life (QoL) among Lebanese men with spinal cord injury and to compare it to a healthy control group.
Methods: A case control study was conducted. Fifty-one Lebanese patients with spinal cord injury and 51 age- sex-matched healthy persons were included in the study.
Results: Compared to healthy controls, the mean scores of eight domains of SF-36 were significantly lower in SCI group: physical functioning (PF) (26.5 vs 87; p value <0.0001), role limitations due to physical (RP) (57.8 vs 93.6; p value <0.0001), bodily pain (BP) (60.5 vs 90.7; p value, 0.0001), general health (GH) (49.5 vs 76.6; p value <0.0001), vitality (VT) (51.2 vs 71.3; p value <0.0001), social functioning (SF) (68.9 vs 91.2; p value <0.0001), role limitations due to emotional problems (RE) (71.2 vs 91.5; p value 0.003) and mental health (MH) (62.9 vs 79; p value <0.0001). Concerning PCS and MCS scores, SCI patients reported significantly lower scores than control group (p value <0.0001).
Conclusion: Participants with SCI reported reduced QoL in comparison with normal individuals.
Keywords: Lebanon; SF-36; Spinal cord injury; case control; quality of life.