A spinal cord injury refers to damage to the spinal cord resulting from trauma (e.g. an accident) or from disease or degeneration (e.g. a tumor). Spinal cord injury patients are often completely or partially paralyzed, which means that some of them depend on a wheelchair. But that's not all: in addition to muscle failure, the condition can also cause problems with bladder and bowel function, spasticity and the risk of bedsores. It is also known that more than three-quarters of people with spinal cord injury suffer from chronic pain. One can think of pain from nerve pain and / or pain from the muscles and joints (for example, shoulder pain from driving a wheelchair). This pain can cause people to become even more limited in their daily functioning. To date, there is no good medication for the pain, so there is a large group of people who have to learn to live with the pain.

Research in other conditions that cause chronic pain (e.g., neuropathy, fibromyalgia) has shown that having chronic pain can lead to mood problems, anxiety, and also changes in behavior. For example, there are people with pain who start avoiding activities, while other people go beyond their limits. Rehabilitative treatments are available for these people to help them function better despite the pain. For people with a spinal cord injury, the consequences of pain on thoughts, behavior and thus functioning have not been sufficiently studied.