Characteristics of the patients
| Patient | Sex | Age yrs | Spinal injury | Time since injury yrs | Time since DP yrs | Place of residence¶ | SWLS score+ | |
| Level# | Mechanism | |||||||
| 1 | M | 20 | C3 | Traumatic | 2.7 | 0.2 | Hospital | 11 |
| 2 | M | 26 | C3 | Post-opƒ | 1.5 | 1 | Institution | 17 |
| 3 | M | 53 | C1 | Traumatic | 7.9 | 6 | Home | 23 |
| 4 | M | 30 | C2C3 | Traumatic | 15.7 | 14 | Home | 17 |
| 5 | M | 27 | C3 | Traumatic | 4.25 | 5 | Home | 19 |
| 6 | M | 23 | C1C2 | Traumatic | 4.3 | 4 | Home | 19 |
| 7 | F | 61 | C1 | Post-opƒ | 1 | 0.1 | Hospital | 21 |
| 8 | M | 52 | C2 | Traumatic | 18.3 | 17 | Institution | 16 |
| 9 | M | 45 | C2 | Traumatic | 10.9 | 10.1 | Home | 26 |
| 10 | F | 21 | C2 | Traumatic | 4 | 3 | Home | 16 |
| Mean±sd§ | 35.8±15.3 | 7.05±6.03 | 6.0±5.9 | 18.5±4.2 | ||||
| Range | 20–61 | 1–18 | 0.1–17 | 11–26 | ||||
DP: diaphragm pacing; SWLS: satisfaction with life scale; M: male; F: female; Op: operative. #: consolidated neurological level; ¶: at the time of testing. +: comprises five items: 1) in most ways my life is close to my ideal; 2) the conditions of my life are excellent; 3) I am satisfied with my life; 4) so far I have gotten the important things I want in life; 5) if I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. Each statement is scored on a seven-point Likert scale: 7 = strongly agree; 6 = agree; 5 = slightly agree; 4 = neither agree nor disagree; 3 = slightly disagree; 2 = disagree; 1 = strongly disagree. The final score allocates the patient to one of seven categories. 35–31: extremely satisfied; 26–30: satisfied; 21–25: slightly satisfied; 20: neutral; 15–19: slightly dissatisfied; 10–14: dissatisfied; 5–9: extremely dissatisfied. §: all data sets passed the Shapiro-Wilk normality test; ƒ: neurosurgery (ependymoma).