Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh 12231, Saudi Arabia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 14;19(8):4747. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19084747.
Return to work is a challenging aspect of community integration for individuals with disabilities. The reintegration of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) is multifactorial; hence, regional challenges need to be investigated in the context of their clinical attributes and perceptions. A total of 121 male participants above 18 years of age with diagnosis of SCI and living at home were included in this cross-sectional survey. The study was conducted at a tertiary care rehabilitation facility in Saudi Arabia. The most common reported clinical barriers to employment were mobility, bladder incontinence, spasticity, musculoskeletal pain, and neuropathic pain. Bladder incontinence and musculoskeletal pain were the most common perceived clinical barriers for individuals with paraplegia and tetraplegia, respectively. A significant difference was observed for bowel incontinence as a reported barrier ( = 0.024) among adults less than thirty years of age in comparison with those older than thirty years. Spasticity as a barrier was reported more among patients who were older than thirty years (54.0%) compared to those younger than thirty years of age (37.9%) ( = 0.077). Twenty-two (23.7%) participants with paraplegia reported transfers as a perceived barrier to employment, which was significant ( = 0.014), and it was also reported as a significant barrier ( = 0.001) in individuals with tetraplegia (56%). This study shows that clinical conditions associated with SCI are considered potential barriers to employment by individuals with SCI. In terms of priority, the perceived barriers between individuals with tetraplegia and paraplegia were mostly different. This shows the need to consider relevant secondary health care conditions in goal setting while planning for employment in individuals with SCI.
重返工作岗位是残疾人士融入社区的一个具有挑战性的方面。脊髓损伤（SCI）患者的再融入是多因素的；因此，需要在其临床特征和认知的背景下调查区域挑战。这项横断面调查共纳入了 121 名年龄在 18 岁以上、在家居住、被诊断为 SCI 的男性参与者。该研究在沙特阿拉伯的一家三级康复医疗机构进行。报告的就业最常见的临床障碍是行动能力、膀胱失禁、痉挛、肌肉骨骼疼痛和神经性疼痛。膀胱失禁和肌肉骨骼疼痛是截瘫和四肢瘫痪患者分别报告的最常见的感知临床障碍。在三十岁以下的成年人中，与三十岁以上的成年人相比，观察到肠道失禁作为报告障碍（ = 0.024）存在显著差异。痉挛作为一种障碍，在年龄大于三十岁的患者中比年龄小于三十岁的患者中更常见（54.0%比 37.9%）（ = 0.077）。22 名截瘫参与者报告转移是就业的感知障碍，这是显著的（ = 0.014），四肢瘫痪患者也报告转移是显著障碍（ = 0.001）（56%）。这项研究表明，与 SCI 相关的临床状况被 SCI 患者视为就业的潜在障碍。就优先级而言，四肢瘫痪患者和截瘫患者之间的感知障碍大多不同。这表明在为 SCI 患者制定就业目标时，需要考虑相关的二级医疗保健状况。
