Staff and patient perceptions of the psychosocial concerns of spinal cord injured persons.

Abstract

There is growing evidence that traditional theoretical models of adjustment to disability have provided very limited predictive utility for professionals in understanding individual responses to spinal cord injury. Rehabilitation personnel may not accurately perceive the nature and degree of their spinal cord injured (SCI) patients' emotional states or psychological concerns. This study was an attempt to further delineate perceptual discrepancies or similarities between attending staff and SCI patients. A group of SCI patients and staff were asked to complete a Psychosocial Questionnaire for Spinal Cord Injured Persons. This instrument assesses four dimensions of psychosocial adjustment to spinal cord injury: Anxiety, Depression, Social Discomfort, and Positive Outlook. The latter appears not to have been systematically studied in this context, and was included to eliminate the total negativity of the questionnaire. Staff were asked to complete the inventory as they thought most of their SCI patients would respond. Results confirmed previous findings that patients and staff vary significantly in their perceptions of SCI patients' psychosocial conditions. This study found that patients reported being less depressed, but more anxious and optimistic, than their caregivers predicted. Several factors were identified which may have affected staff's misperceptions, including most significantly length of time in SCI service.