Purpose: To identify the relationships between health behaviors and participation and life expectancy after spinal cord injury (SCI), while controlling for biographic and injury factors. Methods: Data for this prospective cohort study were collected by mailed survey. Participants included 1,361 adults with traumatic SCI, 1 or more years post injury. Participants were enrolled an average of 9.7 years after injury, and mortality was determined at the end of 2007. There were 294 deaths by follow-up. Life expectancy was calculated utilizing person-years and logistic regression. Results: When evaluating each factor while controlling for biographic and injury characteristics, it was found that smoking history, binge drinking, number of drinks consumed, and psychotropic prescription medication use were related to increased mortality risk, whereas exercise and weekly outings were associated with a lower mortality risk. In the final model, only smoking history, binge drinking, psychotropic prescription medication use, and weekly outings were predictive of mortality and life expectancy. Conclusion: Several behaviors identified may become targets of prevention strategies to promote longevity, including smoking cessation, stopping binge drinking, avoiding overreliance on psychotropic prescription medications, and promoting daily activities away from home.

health behaviors, mortality, psychosocial, risk, spinal cord injury
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