Modifiable Socio-structural and Environmental Factors that Impact the Health and QoL of People with Spinal Cord Injury: A Scoping Review

Objective(s) The objective of this scoping review was to examine the modifiable socio-structural and environmental factors that impact the health and quality of life (QoL) of community-dwelling people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Data Sources Empirical and non-empirical journal articles were identified using three academic databases: CINAHL Complete, Medline with Full Text, and PsycINFO. Study Selection Full-text journal articles were selected on four primary criteria: (i) publication date range: 2000-2020; (ii) study population: community-dwelling people with SCI with traumatic or non-traumatic etiology over the age of 18 without cognitive impairments; (iii) study focus: modifiable factors that impacted health and QoL; (iv) geographic region: Australia, Europe, and North America. Data Extraction Guided by the methodological process of Levac, Colquhoun & O'Brien (2010), a data table was used to extract article information including authors & year of publication, country, purpose/objectives, design and methods, findings, limitations, and synthesis. Qualitative data analysis software was subsequently used in the process of categorizing major findings inductively through content analysis. Data Synthesis 30 peer-reviewed articles consisting of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method study design, as well as non-empirical studies were included. This scoping review revealed that modifiable socio-structural (social attitudes, access to healthcare, access to information, funding, and policies) and environmental factors (built-environment, housing, transportation, assistive technology, and the natural environment) impact the health and QoL of community-dwelling people with SCI. Conclusions The health and QoL of community-dwelling people with SCI is impacted by multiple modifiable socio-structural and environmental factors. Future research should examine the influence of the related regional/national policies and individual biopsychosocial characteristics and resources on modifiable factors, which impact health and QoL. Author(s) Disclosures N/A