Spiritual Well-Being and Quality of Life among Persons with Paraplegia

With the advent of better emergency response and medical advances, the life expectancy of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) is about 85% to 90% compared to that of non-disabled persons. Since SCI survivors are living well into their 70s, quality of life (QOL) is a major concern. The purpose of this study, informed by Ferrell and Grant\u27s Quality of Life Model, was to examine relationships between spiritual well-being (SWB), existential well-being (EWB), religious spiritual well-being (RWB), depression, length of injury, age, gender, ethnicity, and QOL while living with paraplegia one year and longer. A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design, with convenience sampling of 75 participants was implemented. Instruments used to measure the influence of variables included Ellison\u27s Spiritual Well-Being Scale, The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and a Quality of Life scale measuring subjective quality of life directly through a visual analog. Findings included relatively high SWB scores, with existential well-being (EWB) having a strong relationship with QOL (r = .63, p = .01). Other significant relationships included SWB Total and QOL (r = .47, p = .01) and inversely between depression and QOL (r = -.59, p = .01). Regression analysis indicated that the variables of existential well-being, spiritual well-being total, and depression were the primary predictors of quality of life. In conclusion, participants who had a strong sense of purpose and meaning in life, whether or not religious, were more likely to have a higher subjective QOL. Implications of this study for future research include conducting a qualitative study addressing the questions: What does spiritual well-being mean to the person with paraplegia, and what contributes to the person\u27s subjective quality of life