Partnership Status and Living Situation in Persons Experiencing Physical Disability in 22 Countries: Are There Patterns According to Individual and Country-Level Characteristics?

Christine Fekete, Mohit Arora, Jan D. Reinhardt, Mirja Gross-Hemmi, Athanasios Kyriakides, Marc Le Fort, Julia Patrick Engkasan and Hannah Tough
Additional contact information
Christine Fekete: Swiss Paraplegic Research, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland
Mohit Arora: John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
Jan D. Reinhardt: Swiss Paraplegic Research, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland
Mirja Gross-Hemmi: Swiss Paraplegic Research, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland
Athanasios Kyriakides: Spinal Cord Injuries Unit, University of Patras, Rio, 26500 Patras, Greece
Marc Le Fort: Neurological Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Department, University Hospital Saint-Jacques, 44093 Nantes, France
Julia Patrick Engkasan: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Hannah Tough: Swiss Paraplegic Research, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-11

Abstract: Persons experiencing disabilities often face difficulties to establish and maintain intimate partnerships and the decision whether to live alone or with others is often not their own to make. This study investigates whether individual and country-level characteristics predict the partnership status and the living situation of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) from 22 countries. We used data from 12,591 participants of the International SCI Community Survey (InSCI) and regressed partnership status and living situation on individual (sociodemographic and injury characteristics) and country-level characteristics (Human Development Index, HDI) using multilevel models. Females, younger persons, those with lower income, without paid work, more severe injuries, and longer time since injury were more often single. Males, older persons, those with higher income, paid work, less severe injuries, and those from countries with higher HDI more often lived alone. This study provides initial evidence for the claim that the partnership status and the living situation of people with SCI are influenced by sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors and are not merely a matter of choice, in particular for those with severe injuries.

Keywords: marital status; partnership; living alone; household composition; disability; spinal cord injury (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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