1. Introduction
traumatic SCI, cord injury, a disability
MAY, VIRUS
This study represents the first known research addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women with spinal cord injury (SCI) in the United States. Women in this population face unique barriers that put them at elevated risk for compromised quality of life, risk that was magnified by physical and social restrictions imposed during the pandemic. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of women with SCI and the effect of the pandemic on their lives. The predominantly White and relatively well-educated sample of 105 women with traumatic SCI was diverse in age, injury characteristics, and geographic representation. Recruited across the USA, participants in an online psychological health intervention trial were asked to respond to the item, “Please tell us how COVID-19 has affected you and your life”, administered May–October, 2020. An overall sentiment rating of impact was coded as well as the impact of COVID-19 on eight individual themes: Physical Health, Mental Health, Social Health, Activities of Daily Living, Exercise, Work, Activities Outside the Home, and Activities at Home. Sentiment responses were rated as positive, negative, a mixture of positive and negative impacts, or neutral impact. Participants described the overall impact of COVID-19 as negative (54%), positive (10%), mixed (21%) or neutral (15%). Sentiment ratings to individual themes were also described. Our findings highlight the importance of providing access to disability-sensitive and affordable support, resources, and interventions for women with SCI, especially during a public health crisis.The COVID-19 pandemic exerted profound disruptions on the lives of people worldwide, with differential ramifications for women and people with disabilities. Amplifying pre-existing gender disparities, the pandemic heightened levels of gender-based violence, intensified lack of employment, and increased unpaid child and elderly care work among women [A large population experiencing historical inequities and marginalization [In the United States, approximately 37.5 million women, or about one in four women, report having a disability [The growing literature on the effects of the pandemic on people with SCI strongly suggests that people in this population have experienced significant adverse impacts, including elevated risks for exposure to the virus [Despite the amplitude of negative impacts of the pandemic, some unexpected positive outcomes have been observed among the general population [Although some attention has been given to the COVID-19 pandemic-related disparities facing women with disabilities and mixed samples of men and women with SCI, there has been no investigation on the unique impacts of the pandemic on women with SCI. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceived positive and negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of women with SCI in the United States during the first year of the pandemic.