The study group was a consecutive sample of 172
individuals with a severe physical disability who visited
a special training center in Stockholm, Sweden,
at one or more occasions during 1 year. The defi nition
of severe physical disability was a permanent
need of a walking aid or wheelchair, and need of
assistance with activities of daily living for more than
20 h/week.
Before sending the questionnaire, the staff at the
training centre estimated the respondents ’cognitive
abilities. The estimation was based on the facility
staff ’ s experience from the respondents ’earlier training
sessions at the facility. Thus 35 persons were
excluded because of cognitive dysfunctions, leaving
137 persons (69 men and 68 women) to participate
in the study. The age ranged from 25 to 64 years,
with a mean age of 46 years.