Lifestyle assessment in individuals with spinal cord injuries caused by accidents and disasters in qualitative studies published from 1990 to 2020: A meta‐synthesis of qualitative study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: As a debilitating disorder, spinal cord injuries (SCIs) can bring about a range of physical, psychological, and social consequences in individuals and even have effects on their lifestyle indicators. The present study was thus to reflect on lifestyles among people with SCIs developing from accidents and disasters. METHODS: Using a meta‐synthesis of qualitative research, all articles recruiting qualitative methods to examine patients with SCIs, published from 1990 to 2020, were retrieved by the researchers, good at the Persian and English languages, from the databases of ScienceDirect, MD Consult, Pedro, ProQuest, PubMed, SID, MedLib, Magiran, Scopus, Google Scholar, Iranmedex, the Cochran Library, CINAHL, and Blackwell, tapping the keywords of “spinal cord injury, SCI, manmade disaster, natural disaster, content analysis, concept analysis, thematic analysis, lifestyle, quality of life, QoL, grounded theory, meta‐synthesis, mixed‐methods research, historical research, ethnography, and phenomenology” in both languages for their inclusion in this study and further analyses. RESULTS: With reference to the inclusion criteria, 18 articles were extracted, and after all 10 studies in line with the research topic were reviewed and analyzed. Ultimately, six main themes, namely, compromise, self‐reliance, income‐generating activities, mental status, inability, and issues of sexuality were extracted, demonstrating their importance to individuals suffering from SCIs. CONCLUSION: During the initial stages following SCIs, the abilities to engage in participatory practices and individual's power of decision‐making diminish because of physical, social, psychological, and environmental constraints. It was accordingly recommended to have a holistic perspective and respect all aspects of life in individuals with SCIs.