Relationship of patient characteristics and inpatient rehabilitation services to 5-year outcomes following spinal cord injury: A follow up of the SCIRehab project.

OBJECTIVE

To examine associations of patient characteristics and treatment quantity delivered during inpatient spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation with outcomes at 5 years post-injury and compare them to the associations found at 1 year post-injury.

DESIGN

Observational study using Practice-Based Evidence research methodology in which clinicians documented treatment details. Regression modeling was used to predict outcomes.

SETTING

Five inpatient SCI rehabilitation centers in the US.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were 792 SCIRehab participants who were 12 years of age, gave informed consent, and completed both a 1-year and 5-year post-injury interview.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Outcome data were derived from Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) follow-up interviews at 5 years post-injury and, similar to the 1-year SCIMS outcomes, included measures of physical independence, societal participation, life satisfaction, and depressive symptoms, as well as place of residence, school/work attendance, rehospitalization, and presence of pressure ulcers.

RESULTS

Consistent with 1-year findings, patient characteristics continue to be strong predictors of outcomes 5-years post-injury, although several variables add to the prediction of some of the outcomes. More time in physical therapy and therapeutic recreation were positive predictors of 1-year outcomes, which held less true at 5 years. Greater time spent with psychology and social work/case management predicted greater depressive symptomatology 5-years post-injury. Greater clinician experience was a predictor at both 1- and 5 -years, although the related positive outcomes varied across years.

CONCLUSION

Various outcomes 5-years post-injury were primarily explained by pre-and post-injury characteristics, with little additional variance offered by the quantity of treatment received during inpatient rehabilitation.