Resilience and associated characteristics in adults with spina bifida.
Amy E Showen, Hillary L Copp, Isabel E Allen and 1 others
PMID 33987844WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with spina bifida reported lower resilience than the general population.
Higher resilience was linked to older age, higher household education, prior urological surgeries, and better physical function. These factors may help identify who needs support.
Key findings
01The mean resilience score for adults with spina bifida was 27.2, significantly lower than the US general population mean of 31.8.
02Higher resilience was significantly associated with older age, household education of college degree or higher, prior urological surgeries, and higher physical function scores.
03The identified demographic and clinical factors accounted for 25% of the variance in resilience scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Cross-sectional design prevents conclusions about causality; we do not know if these factors cause resilience or are associated with it. Recruitment via Facebook may bias the sample toward individuals with higher physical and cognitive function, potentially underestimating the true prevalence of low resilience in the broader spina bifida population. The sample was predominantly white (83%) and female (75%), which does not reflect the general spina bifida population demographics and limits generalizability. Resilience was measured by self-report, which is subject to response bias. Specific diagnoses (e.g., myelomeningocele vs. meningocele) were not collected, so severity of the condition was not fully accounted for.
Declared interests
The study received funding from the National Institutes of Health (Extramural). No other conflicts of interest are reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the associations as causal. The study shows that older age, education, prior surgeries, and physical function are linked to higher resilience, but it does not prove that changing these factors will increase resilience.