Results
A total of 189 individuals with SCI were included in the study. Among these patients, 121 (64.02%) had T-SCI, while 68 had NT-SCI. The NT-SCI group included 17 (25%) patients with triple aortic aneurysms, 14 (20.58%) with transverse myelitis, 11 (16.17%) with neoplasm, 13 (19.11%) with infections/abscesses, 6 (8.82%) with viral infections, and seven (10.29%) with canal stenosis. The primary causes of T-SCI were road traffic accidents in 41 (33.88%) patients, falls in 38 (31.40%) patients, other accidents in 13 (10.74%) patients, work-related injuries in 20 (16.52%) patients, and sports-related injuries in nine (7.43%) patients. The most of T-SCI group was with level A 39 (32.23%) of neurological severity, while 38 (55.88%) with D neurological severity in NT-SCI group (see Table 1 ).

Notes:

Abbreviations: T-SCI, Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury; NT-SCI, Non-Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury; ASIA, American Spinal Injury Association scale; SCI, Spinal Cord Injury; C1–C4, Cervical 1-Cervical4; C5–C8, Cervical 5-Cervica8; T1–T6, Thoracic1-Thoracic6; T7–T12, Thoracic7-Thoracic12.

According to the WHOQOL-BREF results, there were comparatively few significant differences in QoL domains and life satisfaction between the T-SCI and NT-SCI groups ( p > 0.05), with the exception of the overall health domain, which showed a significant difference ( p < 0.001; see Table 2 ). Furthermore, no significant differences were observed between the T-SCI and NT-SCI groups in the mean scores for physical health, psychological health, environmental health, and social relationships ( p > 0.05). Both SCI groups exhibited mean scores lower than those of healthy Chinese individuals.

Note:

Abbreviations: SWLS, Satisfaction with the Life Scale; NT-SCI, non-traumatic spinal cord injury; QOL, quality of life; SD, standard deviation; T-SCI, traumatic spinal cord injury.

Figure 1 illustrates the rank order of the mean scores across all four domains for both T-SCI and NT-SCI participants. The highest scores were recorded in the psychological health domain (M = 54.85 for T-SCI and M = 54.96 for NT-SCI), while the lowest scores were found in the physical health domain (M = 48.32 for T-SCI and M = 49.06 for NT-SCI).

The mean scores of the SWLS for both the T-SCI and NT-SCI groups showed no significant differences; however, both groups reported lower scores than healthy individuals (see Table 2 ).

Figure 2 illustrates the overall score distribution. The majority of participants in the T-SCI and NT-SCI groups reported being slightly dissatisfied, with percentages of 33.88% and 44.12%, respectively. This suggests that both groups have adapted to their physical disabilities. Additionally, dissatisfaction ranked as the second category in both T-SCI and NT-SCI groups, with 28.1% and 26.4%, respectively. The percentage of participants reporting extreme satisfaction was low, at 0.83% for the T-SCI group and 1.47% for the NT-SCI group. Conversely, 1.65% of participants in the T-SCI group and 1.47% in the NT-SCI group reported being extremely dissatisfied, while 0.83% of the T-SCI group fell into the neutral category.

Univariate analysis revealed moderate positive correlations between the outcomes. Notably, significant moderate correlations were observed between the SWLS and the QoL subscales, ranging from 0.09 (social dimension) to 0.32 (physical health dimension).

All QoL domains exhibited significant correlations among the physical, psychological, and environmental health domains ( p < 0.01). Additionally, significant correlations were found between the psychological and environmental health domains, as well as between the social and environmental health domains ( p < 0.01). The correlogram in Figure 3 illustrates the correlations between the QoL and SWLS scores among all individuals with SCI across different domains.

Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to determine the key factors influencing the WHOQOL domain scores, excluding items 1 and 2, with the SWLS score designated as the dependent variable. Variables were chosen based on their theoretical or clinical relevance, aimed at controlling for potential confounding factors, as well as their statistical significance. The four domains of QoL and SWLS scores were analyzed separately as dependent variables (see Table 3 ).

Note:

Abbreviations: SWLS, satisfaction with life scale; bold: significant value.

The analysis showed numerous significant predictors of physical health. Age, marital status, employment status, the level of injury and the type of paralysis were significantly associated to physical health domain of WHOQOL-BREF.

When examining psychological health, the analysis found that none of the predictor demonstrates significant relationships with psychological health.

Social health was positively influenced by gender. The type of paralysis had a marginally effect on social health, yielding a β of 8.65 ( p = 0.053). However, the state of injury impacted social health, as evidenced by a β of −9.34 ( p = 0.014).

In the context of environmental health, gender emerged as a significant predictor.

The analysis of SWLS revealed several important findings. Employment status, the level of injury and the duration since injury were associated with life satisfaction.