Gibson-Gill Carol, Mingo Tatiyanna
Spinal Cord Injury & Disorders Department, Veteran Administration New Jersey Healthcare System, East Orange, NJ USA.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ USA.
Curr Phys Med Rehabil Rep. 2023;11(1):74-85. doi: 10.1007/s40141-023-00379-6. Epub 2023 Feb 18.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) creates unique needs that if not recognized and addressed timely can have detrimental effects on the health and quality of life (QOL) of people living with a SCI. Primary preventive health care is shown to decrease morbidity and mortality, yet the SCI population reportedly faces challenges getting access to this care. This area in SCI health care is still largely understudied with no consensus on the ideal way or which health care provider is best to provide primary care for this population.
Preventive care is generally provided by general primary care providers, but not all primary care providers are trained in recognizing and addressing spinal cord injury-specific needs. SCI providers generally are not trained in addressing all aspects of preventive care. Knowing the recommended preventive care screenings, recognizing and managing specific conditions seen after a SCI, and seamless coordination of care between general practitioners and SCI specialists are some of the interventions to help prevent health complications, decrease morbidity and mortality, improve health outcomes, and promote QOL in this patient population.
Prioritized focus on preventive care is necessary for a positive impact on the overall health and QOL in this population. Addressing the knowledge gap reported by primary care providers and SCI providers may help increase the probability of SCI patients getting their preventive and specialty care needs addressed. We present a "cheat sheet" of recommendations for the preventive care evaluation of a person living with a SCI.
脊髓损伤（SCI）产生了独特的需求，如果不能及时识别和满足这些需求，可能会对脊髓损伤患者的健康和生活质量（QOL）产生不利影响。初级预防保健已被证明可降低发病率和死亡率，但据报道，脊髓损伤患者在获得这种保健服务方面面临挑战。脊髓损伤保健的这一领域仍在很大程度上未得到充分研究，对于为该人群提供初级保健的理想方式或最佳保健提供者尚无共识。
预防保健通常由普通初级保健提供者提供，但并非所有初级保健提供者都接受过识别和满足脊髓损伤特定需求的培训。脊髓损伤专科提供者通常未接受过处理预防保健各个方面的培训。了解推荐的预防保健筛查、识别和管理脊髓损伤后出现的特定病症，以及全科医生和脊髓损伤专科医生之间无缝的护理协调，是一些有助于预防健康并发症、降低发病率和死亡率、改善健康结局以及提高该患者群体生活质量的干预措施。
优先关注预防保健对于对该人群的整体健康和生活质量产生积极影响是必要的。解决初级保健提供者和脊髓损伤专科提供者报告的知识差距可能有助于增加脊髓损伤患者满足其预防和专科护理需求的可能性。我们提供了一份针对脊髓损伤患者预防保健评估的建议“速查表”。
