[Medical factors relevant to the course of vocational rehabilitation of spinal cord injured clients with complete paraplegia (author's transl)].

A group of 40 clients with complete paraplegia, selected on a number of criteria (such as extent and location of the spinal cord lesion, age, financially responsible agency) had been followed up from the onset of paralysis. At the end of the 5th year post-onset, the following was stated in the 37 survivors: 28 of the 37 paraplegics (75.7 percent) have achieved vocational resettlement (in the broadest possible meaning of that term); of these 28, 16 (43.3 percent) were employed in standard-remuneration occupations; 6 (16.2 percent) had entered training or retraining programmes; 6 (16.2 percent) were engaged in domiciliary activities for at least 5 hours a day or employed in a sheltered setting. None of the paraplegics drew unemployment benefits at the report time; 9 (24.3 percent) had not been resettled vocationally. The article reports on those factors of paraplegia that have comparatively favourable effect on a return to occupational activity (such as use of both arms, absence of psycho-organic syndromes, stability of the neurological syndrome), on permanently detrimental consequences of omitted or insufficient early treatment, as well as on the importance of secondary prevention measures following discharge from inpatient treatment.