McColl M A
School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Assist Technol. 1999;11(2):130-6. doi: 10.1080/10400435.1999.10131997.
While our understanding of aging and mortality in spinal cord injury is evolving, precise estimates are still not available to assist people with spinal cord injuries in knowing what to expect as they grow older. The work of a number of authors suggests that the life expectancy of those with spinal cord injuries is improving. However, little is known about the conditions in which individuals may expect to spend their remaining years of life. This study used information from a 50-year database on spinal cord injury, in combination with national mortality statistics and new survey information, to estimate the number of remaining years that individuals could expect to spend in a variety of states of health, independence, and quality of life. The study showed that expectations of health are similar to those found in the general population. Regardless of total life expectancy, individuals could expect to spend about six of their remaining years in poor health, presumably near the end of life. Expectations of independence varied depending on lesion level. Those with paraplegia became less independent over time, moving from complete to modified independence. Those with quadriplegia appeared to have a greater expectation of independence over time; however, in actuality, only those who were most independent survived to report outcomes at older ages. Expectations of quality of life remained high until the fifth decade postinjury.
虽然我们对脊髓损伤中的衰老和死亡率的理解在不断发展，但仍无法获得精确的估计数据来帮助脊髓损伤患者了解随着年龄增长他们可能会面临的情况。一些作者的研究表明，脊髓损伤患者的预期寿命正在提高。然而，对于个体可能在余生中度过的状况却知之甚少。本研究利用一个关于脊髓损伤的50年数据库中的信息，结合国家死亡率统计数据和新的调查信息，来估计个体在各种健康状况、独立程度和生活质量状态下可能度过的剩余年数。研究表明，健康预期与普通人群相似。无论总体预期寿命如何，个体可能会在健康状况不佳的情况下度过大约六年的剩余时光，大概是在生命接近尾声时。独立预期因损伤水平而异。截瘫患者随着时间推移独立性逐渐降低，从完全独立转变为部分独立。四肢瘫痪患者随着时间推移似乎对独立性有更高的预期；然而，实际上，只有那些最独立的患者才能活到老年并报告结果。直到受伤后的第五个十年，生活质量预期一直很高。
