Body Image in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury During Inpatient Rehabilitation

Objectives (1) To investigate the course of body image in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) during their first inpatient rehabilitation stay; and (2) to explore the association between demographic and injury-related variables and body image and the association between body image and psychological distress. Design Longitudinal inception cohort study. Setting Rehabilitation center. Participants Of the 210 people admitted for their first inpatient SCI rehabilitation program (between March 2011 and April 2015), 188 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, N=150 (80%) agreed to participate. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure The Body Experience Questionnaire was used to measure 2 dimensions of body image: alienation and harmony. Results Mean scores on the Body Experience Questionnaire alienation subscale decreased significantly during the rehabilitation program. Mean scores on the Body Experience Questionnaire harmony subscale did not increase significantly but showed a trend in the hypothesized direction. The 2 subscales showed weak correlations with demographic and injury-related variables. The 2 subscales together explained 16% and 14% of the variance of depression and anxiety, respectively, after correction for demographic and injury-related variables. Conclusions During participants' first inpatient rehabilitation stay after SCI, body image progressed toward a healthier state. Body image explains part of the variance in depression and anxiety, and the entire rehabilitation team should be targeting interventions to improve body image.