Sociodemographic and Health-Related Influences on Residential Instability among Adults with Physical Disabilities

Objective:

The experience of a disabling traumatic event has severe physical, emotional, social, and financial repercussions for individuals and their families. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors related to residential instability among persons with severe and chronic mobility impairments in order to better understand the challenges faced by disabled persons living in the community.

 Methods:

This analysis assessed moves among 393 persons with chronic paralysis who are participants in the national Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) database. All cases were adults over 18 years old from New Jersey who had been living in the community for two or more years, and completed two consecutive SCIMS surveys between 2007 and 2015. Approximately half the sample (47.8%) reported moving between survey waves. Differences by sociodemographic (i.e., age, race/ethnicity, gender, marital status, household income, education level, employment status, and neighborhood disadvantage based on Census tract median home values) and health-related (i.e., impairment severity, functional status, perceived health, and depressive symptoms) on mover status were estimated using odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals.

 Results:

The movers were significantly younger on average and more likely to be of an ethnic minority background, low income group, and living in a low SES neighborhood compared to non-movers. Contrary to expectations, differences in impairment severity, health status, and well-being between the groups were not observed.

 Conclusions:                                                                            

These findings suggest that persons with mobility impairments from disadvantaged backgrounds are disproportionately likely to experience residential instability and are vulnerable to disrupted adjustment post-disability.