CMS may result from injury of vertebrae Th12-L2, and it involves damage to neural structures from spinal cord segment Th12 to nerve root S5. CES may result from an injury of vertebrae L3-L5, and it involves damage to nerve roots L3-S5. This differentiation between CMS and CES is necessary to examine the hypothesis that CES patients tend to have a better functional outcome.

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Purpose A spinal cord injury (SCI) has a large impact on a person’s physical, psychological, and social health. Previous studies focused on physical recovery in patients with SCI and assessed their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) with general questionnaires, which often contain irrelevant questions. The SCI-QOL questionnaire was developed to specifically assess the HRQOL of the SCI population. A comprehensive translation and cross-cultural adaptation are required to use this questionnaire in the Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium. Methods All 23 short forms of the SCI-QOL for adults were translated from English into Dutch-Flemish using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy translation methodology, with a cognitive debriefing being performed with 10 patients with SCI and 10 persons from the general population. Results The Dutch-Flemish PROMIS group previously translated 46 of the 207 items in the 23 short forms. Here, we achieved an acceptable translation of the other 161 items. A single Dutch-Flemish translation was obtained for 20 short forms, while separate Dutch and Flemish translations were necessary for the short forms Ambulation, Manual Wheelchair, and Stigma. Conclusion The Dutch-Flemish translation of the SCI-QOL is now available for clinical and research purposes. Future studies should focus on the psychometric properties of this cross-culturally adapted version.