Dear Spinal Cord reader,

I hope you all have enjoyed a nice year in 2016 and that you are ready for another interesting, happy and prosperous year. You will find many interesting studies in this first issue of 2017.

It is noteworthy that the main principle applied by Sir Ludwig Guttmann some 70 years ago for (spinal cord injury) SCI individuals still has been growing in importance year after year. Guttmann, almost from the beginning of his activities at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, made it clear that keeping patients alive after SCI was evidently important, but that quality of life (QoL) was never to be lost from sight. Caring for SCI individuals was not enough. They had to be supported in building a ‘new life’, taking up their role in family and society, regaining and maintaining self-esteem, and esteem from those they met. This corresponds well with our actual notion of QoL, including general well-being, with negative and positive outlines of life. Life satisfaction, including physical health, family, education, employment, wealth, finance, the environment, but also international and one's own society development and politics, are cornerstones. QoL is much more than standard of living, which is based primarily on income. The massive information reaching us all in a never-ending overwhelming stream and on a multitude topics can influence and induce changes in QoL, and all of us still have to try to position this phenomenon.

In the context of health, the area of health-related QoL has grown so much that it is part of all what is planned, done and followed. Spinal Cord has published many contributions related to QoL and to factors with influence on QoL. Below are examples from the last two years:

  • Divanoglu A and Georgiou M. Perceived effectiveness and mechanisms of community peer-based programmes for Spinal Cord Injuries—a systematic review of qualitative findings. Spinal Cord 2016; doi: 10.1038/sc.2016.147 (e-pub ahead of print).

  • Anquetil C, Abdelhamid S, Gelis A, Fattal C. Botulinum toxin therapy for neurogenic detrusor hyperactivity versus augmentation enterocystoplasty: impact on the quality of life of patients with SCI. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 1031–1035.

  • Andresen SR, Biering-Sørensen F, Hagen EM, Nielsen JF, Bach FW, Finnerup NB. Pain, spasticity and quality of life in individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury in Denmark. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 973–979.

  • Finnerup NB, Jensen MP, Norrbrink C, Trok K, Johannesen IL, Jensen TS et al. A prospective study of pain and psychological functioning following traumatic spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 816–821.

  • Nagoshi N, Kaneko S, Fujiyoshi K, Takemitsu M, Tagi M, Iizuka S, et al. Characteristics of neuropathic pain and its relationship with quality of life in 72 patients with spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 656–661.

  • Merghati-Khoei E, Emami-Razavi SH, Bakhtiyari M, Iamyian M, Hajmirzaei,Ton-tab Haghighi S, et al. Spinal cord injury and women’s sexual life: case–control study. Spinal Cord 2016; doi: 10.1038/sc.2016.106 (e-pub ahead of print).

  • Morrison M, Kelly EH, Russell HF, Vogel LC. Rewards of parenting children and adolescents with spinal cord injuries. Spinal Cord 2016; doi: 10.1038/sc.2016.83 (e-pub ahead of print).

  • Mazor Y, Jones M, Andrews A, Kellow JE, Malcolm A. Anorectal biofeedback for neurogenic bowel dysfunction in incomplete spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 1132–1138.

  • Postma K, Post MWM, Haisma JA, Stam HJ, Bergen MP, Bussmann JBJ. Impaired respiratory function and associations with health-related quality of life in people with spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 866–871.

  • de Oliveira BIR, Howie EK, Dunlop SA, Galea MP, McManus A, Allison GT. SCIPA Com: outcomes from the spinal cord injury and physical activity in the community intervention. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 855–860.

  • Kovacs FM, Barriga A, Royuela A, Seco J, Zamora J. Spanish adaptation of the Quality of Life Index-Spinal Cord Injury version. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 895–900.

  • Post MWM, Adriaansen JJE, Charlifue S, Biering-Sørensen F, van Asbeck FWA. Good validity of the international spinal cord injury quality of life basic data set. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 314–318.

  • Hossain MS, Rahman MA, Bowden JL, Quadir MM, Herbert RD, Harvey LA. Sychological and socioeconomic status, complications and quality of life in people with spinal cord injuries after discharge from hospital in Bangladesh: a cohort study. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 483–489.

  • Munce SEP, Straus SE, Fehlings MG, Voth J, Nugeava N, Jang E, et al. Impact of psychological characteristics in self-management in individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2016; 54: 29–33.

  • Spong J, Graco M, Brown DJ, Schembri R, Berlowitz DJ. Subjective sleep disturbances and quality of life in chronic tetraplegia. Spinal Cord 2015; 53: 636–640.

  • Bochkezanian V, Raymond J, de Oliveira CQ, Davis GM. Can combined aerobic and muscle strength training improve aerobic fitness, muscle strength, function and quality of life in people with spinal cord injury? A systematic review. Spinal Cord 2015; 53: 418–431.

I am convinced that Sir Ludwig Guttmann would say: Well Done!