Prevalence of mood disturbance in Australian adults with chronic spinal cord injury

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is little understanding of the prevalence of mental health issues in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) after they leave rehabilitation or how mental health issues can alter over time. AIM:The aims were to (i) determine the prevalence of mood disturbance in adults with chronic SCI living in the community, (ii) ascertain whether the prevalence of mood disturbance had changed since a previous study in 2004-2005 and (iii) establish whether people with chronic SCI remain vulnerable to mood disturbance, irrespective of time since injury. METHODS: Prospective, open-cohort case series. Participants were 573 community-based adults with a chronic SCI. The depression, anxiety and stress scale - short version was used. Analyses included simple descriptors, Chi-squared and repeated measures t-tests. RESULTS: Nearly half of participants (n = 263/573; 46%) reported symptoms indicating mood disturbance, which was similar to the level found in the previous study. While the presence of mood disturbance persisted in 23% of adults (n = 26) and 46 (41%) were in the 'below threshold' category, just over a third of the adults who participated in both studies (n = 111) experienced a change (n = 21, 19% mood disturbance resolved and n = 18, 16% mood disturbance developed). CONCLUSION: Both resilience and change are common. At no time after SCI is the risk of mental health problems considered reduced or even stable. These results highlight the importance of regular mental health reviews even in those who have previously displayed good resilience.