The role of environmental factors on health conditions, general health and quality of life in persons with spinal cord injuries in South Africa
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
The objective was to describe the individual items of the environmental factors
and to investigate the relationship between the environmental factors to health conditions, general
health and quality of life in people with SCI in South Africa. Methods: Two hundred persons with
SCI participated in a cross-sectional survey design. This study formed part of the International
Spinal Cord Injury (InSCI) Community Survey. Four major domains, environmental factors, health
conditions, general health and quality of life of the survey questionnaire responses, were used for
the analysis. Regression models were used to determine the association between the independent
variable, which consisted of the specific environmental factors items, and the dependent variables
comprising health conditions, general health and quality of life. Results: The commonly reported
environmental barriers were public access, lack of short- and long-distance transport and finances.
Environmental factors such as public access (p < 0.001), short- (p < 0.001) and long-distance transport
(p = 0.001), and friends’ (p = 0.003) and colleagues’ (p < 0.001) attitudes and communication (p = 0.042)
were significantly associated with the presence of secondary health conditions. Finances (p = 0.026),
family attitudes (p = 0.037) and communication (p = 0.039) had a significant association with worsened
mental health. Services (p = 0.022) and communication (p = 0.042) were also significantly associated
with decreased general health.
Description
Keywords
Physiotheraphy, South Africa, Healthcare system, Mental health, Psychology
Citation
Bezuidenhout, Lu. et al. (2023). The role of environmental factors on health conditions, general health and quality of life in persons with spinal cord injuries in South Africa. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(9), 5709. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20095709