- The Spinal Cord Injury–Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) measurement system was developed to address the shortage of relevant and psychometrically sound patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS) available for clinical care and research in spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation
- The SCI-QOL measurement system is divided into four domains:
1) Physical-medical
2) Physical functioning
3) Emotional
4) Social health - It also consists of 19 item banks, including the SCI-Functional Index banks, and three fixed-length scales measuring physical, emotional, and social aspects of health-related QOL (HRQOL)
Clinical Considerations
Using a computer adaptive testing (CAT) approach, the SCI-QOL builds on the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) and the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QOL) initiative.
ICF Domain
Quality of Life
Administration
- A computer or tablet with a consistent internet connection is required to administer SCI-QOL CATs or SFs via Assessment Center
- Extensive detail on Assessment Center study setup and administration, including video tutorials, may be found at www.assessmentcenter.net
Number of Items
19 items
Equipment
N/A
Scoring
IRT-based scores on all SCI-QOL banks/scales use a standardized T metric, with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10.
Languages
English.
Training Required
Does not require advanced training.
Availability
Unable to locate a copy of this scale for use at this time; however, an overview can be found through PubMed at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445018/
# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 8
Interpretability
- Higher scores on a SCI-QOL item bank represent a greater amount of the construct being measured.
MCID: not established in SCI
SEM: Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.094
(Bertisch et al. 2015; n=717, mean age (SD): 43.0 (15.3) years, mean duration (SD): 7.1 (10) years, 22% female; 25% Paraplegia complete, 20% Paraplegia incomplete, 22% tetraplegia complete, 32% tetraplegia incomplete)
MDC: not established in SCI
Typical Values
- Mean score (SD): 53.10 (9.89)
(Cohen et al. 2018; n=57, mean age (SD): 42.9 (15.5) years, 20.9% female, mean duration (SD): 6.7 (9.9) years; 23.9% Paraplegia complete,18.5% Paraplegia incomplete, 23.1% tetraplegia complete, 34.4% tetraplegia incomplete)
Reliability
- High internal consistency for bladder management difficulties scales:
α = 0.91 - High test-retest reliability for bladder management difficulties scales:
r = 0.77 (ICC = 0.76) - High internal consistency for bladder complications scales:
α = 0.72 - Moderate test-retest reliability for bladder complications scales:
r = 0.70 (ICC = 0.69)
(Tulsky et al. 2015b; n=757, mean age (SD): 42.9 (15.5) years, mean duration (SD): 6.7 (9.9) years, 20.9% female)
- High internal consistency for depression scales:
α = 0.72 - High test-retest reliability for depression scales:
r = 0.80 (ICC = 0.80)
(Tulsky et al. 2015a; n=716, mean age (SD): 43.0 (15.3) years, mean duration (SD): 7.1 (10) years, 22% female)
- High internal consistency for positive affect and well-being scales:
α = 0.97
(Bertisch et al. 2015; n=717, mean age (SD): 43.0 (15.3) years, mean duration (SD): 7.1 (10) years, 22% female; 25% Paraplegia complete, 20% Paraplegia incomplete, 22% tetraplegia complete, 32% tetraplegia incomplete)
- High test-retest reliability for pain interference and pain behaviour assessment scales:
r = 0.84 (ICC = 0.83)
(Cohen et al. 2018; n=57, mean age (SD): 42.9 (15.5) years, 20.9% female, mean duration (SD): 6.7 (9.9) years; 23.9% Paraplegia complete,18.5% Paraplegia incomplete, 23.1% tetraplegia complete, 34.4% tetraplegia incomplete)
- High internal consistency for SCI-QOL-23 questionnaire:
α = 0.97
(Ebrahimzadeh et al. 2013; n=52, mean age (SD): 49.3 (7.9) years, 88.5% incomplete paraplegia)
Validity
- High correlation of SCI-QOL depression scales with PHQ-9 scores:
r = 0.76
(Tulsky et al. 2015a; n=716, mean age (SD): 43.0 (15.3) years, mean duration (SD): 7.1 (10) years, 22% female)
- Low to Moderate item/total correlations for bladder complications:
r = 0.38-0.60 - Low to High item/total correlations for bladder management difficulties:
r = 0.38-0.78
(Tulsky et al. 2015b; n=757, mean age (SD): 42.9 (15.5) years, mean duration (SD): 6.7 (9.9) years, 20.9% female)
Responsiveness
No values were reported for the responsiveness of the SCI-QOL for the SCI population.
Floor/Ceiling Effect
No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the SCI_QOL for the SCI population.
Reviewers
Dr. Carlos L. Cano-Herrera, Elsa Sun
Date Last Updated
31 December 2024
Ebrahimzadeh MH, Shojaei BS, Golhasani-Keshtan F, Soltani-Moghaddas SH, Fattahi AS, Mazloumi SM. Quality of life and the related factors in spouses of veterans with chronic spinal cord injury. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2013;11:48.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3607917/
Tulsky DS, Kisala PA, Victorson D, Tate D, Heinemann AW, Amtmann D, Cella D. Developing a contemporary patient-reported outcomes measure for spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;92(10 Suppl):S44-51.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6309317/
Tulsky DS, Kisala PA, Kalpakjian CZ, Bombardier CH, Pohlig RT, Heinemann AW, Carle A, Choi SW. Measuring depression after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Depression item bank and linkage with PHQ-9. J Spinal Cord Med. 2015;38(3):335-46.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445024/
Bertisch H, Kalpakjian CZ, Kisala PA, Tulsky DS. Measuring positive affect and well-being after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Positive Affect and Well-being bank and short form. J Spinal Cord Med. 2015;38(3):356-65.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445026/
Cohen ML, Kisala PA, Dyson-Hudson TA, Tulsky DS. Measuring pain phenomena after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric properties of the SCI-QOL Pain Interference and Pain Behavior assessment tools. J Spinal Cord Med. 2018;41(3):267-280.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/28185477/
Kalpakjian CZ, Tate DG, Kisala PA, Tulsky DS. Measuring self-esteem after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Self-esteem item bank and short form. J Spinal Cord Med. 2015;38(3):377-85.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445028/
Victorson D, Tulsky DS, Kisala PA, Kalpakjian CZ, Weiland B, Choi SW. Measuring resilience after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Resilience item bank and short form. J Spinal Cord Med. 2015;38(3):366-76.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445027/
