Psychometric properties of the Sexual Adjustment Questionnaire (SAQ) in the Iranian population with spinal cord injury.

STUDY DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Sexual Adjustment Questionnaire (SAQ) for Iranian people with spinal cord injury. SETTING: This study was conducted in the brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. METHODS: We assessed the psychometric properties of the SAQ, with 200 participants (men=146, women=54) completing the scale. An evaluation of its test-retest reliability was performed over a 2-weeks period, on a subsample of 30 patients recruited from the overall group. Cronbach's α-coefficient was computed for assessment of internal consistency reliability. In addition, content and face validity were examined by an expert committee. Construct validity was assessed by examining convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, exploratory factor analysis was used to extract the factor structure of the questionnaire. RESULTS: The Cronbach's α and intraclass correlation coefficient were 0.77 and 0.72 retrospectively. With regard to construct validity, there was a significant (P=0.009) negative correlation (r=-0.28) between the SAQ score and age. Those with lower levels of educations scored significantly lower on the SAQ (P=0.04). The exploratory factor analysis indicated a four-factor structure for the questionnaire, accounting for 68.9% of the observed variance. The expert committee approved the face and content validity of the developed measure. CONCLUSION: The SAQ is a valid measure for assessing sexual adjustment in people with spinal cord injury. The evaluation of sexual well-being may be useful in clinical trials and practical settings.

Prevalence and associated factors of T-score discordance between different sites in Iranian patients with spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of T-score discordance and its risk factors in a group of patients with spinal cord injury in a university teaching hospital in the Iranian capital of Tehran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on paraplegic men undergoing bone density testing in an outpatient clinic at a hospital in the Iranian capital, Tehran, between March 2011 and 2012. A questionnaire on demographic and anthropometric characteristics, including age, height, weight, engagement in physical activity and personal smoking habits, was filled out for each subject. All the subjects underwent bone mineral density measurement and blood samples were sent for laboratory testing. RESULTS: Major T-score discordance between two sites was noted in 54 (41.22%) patients. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that every unit increase in serum calcium levels, as the only factor influencing T-score discordance, was associated with a 2.49-fold increased risk in T-score discordance in the area. As for the spine and radius, BMI was the only influencing factor as every unit increase in BMI was associated with a 14% lower risk for T-score discordance in these regions. Body mass index was the only factor, based on the multivariate model, affecting the risk of developing T-score discordance between two sites. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed the high prevalence of T-score discordance in patients with spinal cord injury. Physicians should therefore be encouraged to perform BMD at three sites when visiting patients with such injuries.