Krause and associates carried out a series of prospective studies that identified relationships between psychosocial adjustment, vocational status, and mortality after spinal cord injury (SCI). The purpose of the current study is to continue this line of research in order to further clarify the relationship between adjustment and mortality. The three study goals include: (1) replicate the prospective comparisons carried out in the previous research with new data set and over a longer time period. (2) validate the accuracy of the predictions for future survival status and personality profiles made in previous studies, and (3) identify the optimal predictors of cause of death. Prospective data on life adjustment has previously been collected from two large samples of participants with SCI on at least one of three occasions (1973, 1984, and 1988). Three types of data will be collected for the current study: (1 ) determination of current survival status--1993, (2) death certificates on all deceased participants, and (3) Supplemental History questionnaires (SHQ) from a family member of each deceased participant. Analyses will include: (1 ) replication of analysis of covariance and discriminant analysis to identify significant differences in adjustment between survivor and deceased groups, (2) analysis of covariance of personality scales scores as a function of survival status, (3) cross-tabulation of actual and predicted survival status (based on a previous study), and (4) discriminant analysis to identify the optimal predictors of cause of death, when causes of death are dichotomized into those related to self-destructive behavior and those unrelated to self-destructive behavior. The results of this study will significantly add to the literature by validating the accuracy of predictions made in previous studies, linking survival to personality, carrying out prospective analyses on variables not available in previous reports, and correlating adjustment variables with causes of death.
| Krause, J S (2000) Aging after spinal cord injury: an exploratory study. Spinal Cord 38:77-83 |
| Krause, J S; Sternberg, M; Lottes, S et al. (1997) Mortality after spinal cord injury: an 11-year prospective study. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 78:815-21 |
