Quality of Life in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury: The Role of Depressed Mood

Background & Aim: Disabilities resulting from road accidents, especially spinal cord injury, which often occur in the early or middle&nbsp;ages of life, cause psychiatric symptoms and worsen the quality of life in these people. The present study aimed to determine the role of&nbsp;depressed mood in the quality of life of patients with spinal cord injury in Guilan Province (in the north of Iran). Methods & Materials/Patients: The present research was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The statistical population included all&nbsp;patients in Spinal Cord Injury Association of Guilan Province, 97 of whom were selected as the sample based on convenience sampling&nbsp;method. The required data were collected using an author-made demographics questionnaire, the Spinal Cord Injury Quality-of-Life-23&nbsp;questionnaire, and Beck Depression Inventory- Short Form. After removal of demographic confounders, Pearson correlation coefficient,&nbsp;independent student t-test, and hierarchical regression model were used for statistical analysis of the obtained data in SPSS. Results: Correlation coefficients showed that there is a significant and direct relationship between depressed mood and quality of life&nbsp;(P<0.0001). This means that the quality of life in spinal cord injury patients declines with the increase in depressed mood (higher scores&nbsp;in the Spinal Cord Injury Quality-of-Life-23 questionnaire imply the lower quality of life). Hierarchical regression analysis also indicated&nbsp;that, after the elimination of confounding variables (injury duration, gender, type of injury, having bedsore, and using catheter, nurse,&nbsp;diaper, and wheelchair), depressed mood led to predict 70% of the joint changes in quality of life score (F=23.77, P<0.0001). Conclusion: The study findings emphasize the prevention and treatment of depressed mood to improve the quality of life in patients with&nbsp;SCI.