Alexander Marcalee, Alexander Jagger, Arora Mohit, Slocum Chloe, Middleton James
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL USA.
2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard School of Medicine, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, MA USA.
Spinal Cord Ser Cases. 2019 Nov 15;5:94. doi: 10.1038/s41394-019-0239-z. eCollection 2019.
Cross-sectional survey.
Persons with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by extreme weather disasters and climate change. Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are especially at risk due to inability to control their body temperature and mobility concerns. We surveyed rehabilitation professionals in the field of SCI to determine their experiences, concerns and educational needs regarding natural disasters, climate change and sustainability and the effects on their clientele.
Online survey available to an international cohort.
The survey was developed by the authors and conducted in 2019. It was distributed amongst various international health care organizations whose members care for persons with SCI. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test for association were performed using Microsoft Excel 2016.
Of 125 respondents, 50% were from Europe, 18% from North America, and 18% from Asia; 74% were physicians and 13% physical therapists. In total 57.6% believed climate change had impacted their client's health and well-being. Respondents from North America were significantly less likely to report climate change had an impact on their patient's health than those from Asia or Europe ( < 0.01). In total 82.5% of respondents thought professionals should be concerned with sustainability and 85.5% were interested in further education.
Most respondents acknowledged a need for more information related to the disasters, climate change, and disability. Results underscore the need for further research, professional, and consumer education.
横断面调查。
残疾人受极端天气灾害和气候变化的影响尤为严重。脊髓损伤（SCI）患者由于无法控制体温以及行动不便等问题，面临的风险尤其高。我们对脊髓损伤领域的康复专业人员进行了调查，以确定他们在自然灾害、气候变化和可持续性方面的经历、担忧和教育需求，以及这些因素对其客户的影响。
面向国际群体开展的在线调查。
该调查由作者设计并于2019年进行。调查在多个国际医疗保健组织中分发，这些组织的成员为脊髓损伤患者提供护理。使用Microsoft Excel 2016进行描述性统计和关联的卡方检验。
在125名受访者中，50%来自欧洲，18%来自北美，18%来自亚洲；74%是医生，13%是物理治疗师。共有57.6%的受访者认为气候变化对其客户的健康和福祉产生了影响。与来自亚洲或欧洲的受访者相比，北美受访者报告气候变化对其患者健康有影响的可能性显著更低（<0.01）。共有82.5%的受访者认为专业人员应该关注可持续性，85.5%的受访者对继续教育感兴趣。
大多数受访者承认需要更多与灾害、气候变化和残疾相关的信息。研究结果强调了进一步开展研究、对专业人员和消费者进行教育的必要性。
