Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2003 , Vol 49 , Num 4

Rehabilitasyon Programındaki Evli Paraplejik Hastaların Aile İşlevleri Yönünden İncelenmesi

Ahmet Özgül 1 ,Kamil Yazıcıoğlu 2 ,Fatma Peker 3 ,M. Ali Taşkaynatan 4
1 GATA Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Ankara
2 Gülhane Askeri Tıp Akademisi Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri Rehabilitasyon Merkezi, Ankara
3 Gülhane Askeri Tıp Akademisi, Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Ankar
4 Gülhane Askeri Tıp Akademisi, Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Ankara

Physical disability affects the whole life, body functions, life expectations, familial and social role as well as marriage interrelations of the patients. In this study, the paraplegic patient’s and their relatives' perceptions on their own family functions were investigated and compared with the families having no such a patient. Additionally the effects of education level, etiology of injury and disability period on family relations were investigated. 30 married paraplegic patients were enrolled in this study. Control group was comprised of 60 families. Besides demographic features, we used family assessment measurement (FAM) to investigate the impact of the existence of a paraplegic patient in the familial functions. In terms of etiology of injury, disability period and marriage status, there was not statistical significant correlations in family functions (p>0.05). There was a statistical significant correlation between education level and affective involvement, a subscale of family functions (p<0.05). The behavior control which is the second objective of this study and a sub-function of FAM, showed statistically significant relation when perception style of family functions was compared within families. But there was not any significant difference in comparison to that with the control group. General mean values of the scores obtained from the paraplegic patients and their partners were within normal healthy ranges. The comparison of FAM scores among the paraplegic patients and their relatives showed high correlation in problem solving, communication skills, affective involvement and displaying concern enough (p<0.001); moderate correlation in behavior control and role definition (p<0.05), with regard to general function scores. These results show that the disabled people and their relatives are affected in the same manner after the trauma. Therefore the disabled people and their families should be involved together in rehabilitation process.

Keywords : Family functions, paraplegia, rehabilitatio