In order to meet a long expressed need for a longitudinal study on personal adjustment to traumatic spinal cord injury, 17 consecutively treated persons with complete traumatic spinal cord injury were interviewed 0. 5-5 years after the injury on six occasions, with a total of 102 interviews. The variables studied were age at injury, social status, the cause of the accident, spinal level of injury and physical complications. The subjective quality of life (QOL) was reported on a 0-10 scale at all interviews and showed four patterns during the 5 year period. Five subjects reported that they were coping very well, with an almost unchanged QOL after the injury. Six reported good coping after an initially low QOL in the first years. Two subjects reported an unstable QOL, and four persons reported a continually low QOL without improvement. Variables related to unsatisfactory coping were severe pain, age above 35 years at the time of trauma, and being blameless for the accident.

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These findings increase our limited knowledge of well-being among children/adolescents with mobility impairment and provide a basis for effective care and future research.

All suicides occurring among the inhabitants of the County of Uppsala in Sweden between 1977 and 1984 were analyzed on the basis of information from autopsy reports and from somatic and psychiatric medical records. Among the 416 persons who committed suicide, 70 (17%) had a somatic disease of probable importance for the suicidal act. No somatic diagnosis appeared to stand out as being especially associated with a very high risk of suicide. Some diagnoses (e.g. malignant neoplasm, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis) were, however, associated with a suicidal rate above that in the general population. Further knowledge about the relation between suicide and specific somatic diagnoses would be of value, since a high suicide rate in association with a particular illness might indicate insufficient medical care and rehabilitation.

SummaryInterviews concerning body image were conducted with 10 persons with tetraplegia due to traumatic spinal cord injury and 12 persons with cerebral palsy. They all needed a wheelchair and daily assistance from another person. Their satisfaction/ dissatisfaction with their body in different situations was reported on a visual analogue scale. The body size as estimated on a Body Puzzle was compared with true measurements. The body mass index of the 22 persons was calculated. These results showed only slight differences between the groups of persons with acquired and congenital motor impair ment and did not differ from the results in a reference group. Information was obtained about different experiences of the interviewed persons, e.g. those from the viewpoint of a wheelchair user, lack of body language and moving about in dreams. In general, the adjustments made to the problems concerning body image by the persons with severe mobility impairment were successful. Thisfinding is important in the light of the efforts among persons with severe mobility impairment to reach equality and 'a normal life'.