Residential location of people with chronic spinal cord injury: the importance of local health care infrastructure

Background People with spinal cord injury (SCI) suffer from complex secondary health conditions and rely on specialized health care services, which are often centralized and difficult to reach for individuals living in remote areas. As a consequence, they might move to regions where they expect better access to care. The aims of this study were: 1) to identify regions where people with SCI live compared with the general population, 2) to examine whether their choice of residence is related to the availability of local health care infrastructure, and 3) to ascertain determinants of their consideration to change residence when aging.