Independent living long-term outcome variables in spinal cord injury: a replication of DeJong

Most independent living (IL) literature focused on describing rather than measuring or evaluating the newly developing IL phenomenon in the rehabilitation field. Gerben DeJong, however, recognized the need to quantify important IL components for research purposes. In the late 1970s he devised a ranking instrument to assess Living Arrangement and Productivity Status of adults with spinal cord injury. As there were few other IL researchers at the time, DeJong's instrument received little attention. Currently, however, IL research is becoming more prominent. The present study is a replication of DeJong's early work. It supports the current relevance of DeJong's conceptual framework, but suggests changes to the specific classification schemes for quantifying long-term IL outcomes of Living Arrangement and Productivity Status for individuals with spinal cord injury.