The impact of COVID-19 on community integration, quality of life, depression and anxiety in people with chronic spinal cord injury
Alejandro García‐Rudolph, Joan Saurí, Jaume López Carballo, Blanca Cegarra, Mark Andrew Wright, Eloy Opisso, Josep M. Tormos
Abstract
CONTEXT/OBJECTIVE: Compare community integration, quality of life, anxiety and depression of people with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) living in the community before the outbreak of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) and during it. DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING: In-person follow-up visits (before COVID-19 outbreak) to a rehabilitation hospital in Spain and on-line during COVID-19. PARTICIPANTS: Community dwelling adults (≥ 18 years) with chronic SCI. OUTCOME MEASURES: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) and World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) were compared using the Wilcoxon ranked test or paired t-test when appropriate. RESULTS: = 0) reported no significant differences in any dimension. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 impacted HADS' depression and CIQ's social integration. Participants younger than 55 years were impacted in WHOQOL-BREF's physical and psychological dimensions, meanwhile participants older than 55, were not.