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Volume 87, Issue 3, Pages 320-327 (March 2006)


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Secondary Conditions in a Community-Based Sample of Women With Physical Disabilities Over a 1-Year Period

Margaret A. Nosek, PhDaCorresponding Author Informationemail address, Rosemary B. Hughes, PhDa, Nancy J. Petersen, PhDb, Heather B. Taylor, PhDd, Susan Robinson-Whelen, PhDa, Margaret Byrne, PhDc, Robert Morgan, PhDb

Abstract 

Nosek MA, Hughes RB, Petersen NJ, Taylor HB, Robinson-Whelen S, Byrne M, Morgan R. Secondary conditions in a community-based sample of women with physical disabilities over a 1-year period.

Objective

To examine prevalence and predictors of secondary conditions in women with physical disabilities.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Setting

Women were recruited through private and public health clinics and various community organizations.

Participants

A sample of 443 predominantly ethnic minority women with physical disabilities.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measure

Health Conditions Checklist interference score.

Results

Aggregated data over a 1-year period showed that nearly the entire sample reported interference from pain (94.5%) and fatigue (93.7%) and that at least three quarters of the sample reported problems with spasticity (85.4%), weakness (81.8%), sleep problems (80.2%), vision impairment (77.9%), and circulatory problems (77.9%). Obesity was substantially more prevalent in this sample (47.6%) than in the general population of women (34.0%). The mean number of secondary conditions per woman ± standard deviation was 14.6±6.2 (range, 1−42), with 75% of the sample endorsing 10 or more conditions. On average, women reported experiencing 5.7±4.03 (range, 0−20) conditions that they rated as significant or chronic. A third (33.4%) of the variance in interference scores was accounted for in the regression analysis, with significant variance accounted for by race, disability type (women with joint and connective tissue disorders and women with postpolio reported the highest overall interference scores), greater functional limitations, and lower levels of general mental health.

Conclusions

Secondary conditions in women with physical disabilities are substantially more problematic than reported previously in the literature. Further research is needed to determine health disparities of women with and without disabilities. Measurement issues and the clinical relevance of these findings are discussed.

a Center for Research on Women with Disabilities, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

b Houston Center for Quality of Care and Utilization Studies, Health Services Research and Development Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX; Section of Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

c Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami Medical School, Miami, FL

d Division of Developmental Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX

Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Margaret A. Nosek, PhD, Center for Research on Women with Disabilities, Baylor College of Medicine, 6550 Fannin, Ste 1421, Houston, TX 77030

 Supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant no. RO4/CCR618805).

No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.

PII: S0003-9993(05)01381-X

doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2005.11.003


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