How Neighborhood Economics Affect Health After Spinal Cord Injury

**Kessler Foundation researchers** have identified **robust measures** to analyze how neighborhood economic factors impact health outcomes following spinal cord injuries (SCI). By developing two composite measures—neighborhood socioeconomic status and socioeconomic disadvantage—they utilized data from the U.S. Census Bureau's **American Community Survey** and the national **Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems database**. The study, appearing in the November 2024 issue of the _Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation_, underscores that individuals living in **disadvantaged neighborhoods** face higher health risks post-SCI. Dr. Amanda Botticello and her colleagues argue that these measures are vital tools for future research, offering a consistent way to include **indicators of neighborhood environmental factors** in rehabilitation outcomes studies. This crucial work, supported by the **National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)**, aims to guide interventions improving the life quality of those affected by SCI.