Article

Prospective study of factors influencing return to work after traumatic spinal cord injury in Taiwan. OBJECTIVE: To
examine comprehensively the effects of physical, psychologic, and sociologic
characteristics on employment among persons after a traumatic spinal cord injury
(SCI) in Taiwan. DESIGN: A prospective study with follow-up telephone interviews
over a 3-year period. SETTING: To register people who had sustained an SCI,
medical records of 4 hospitals were reviewed using codes of the International
Classification of Diseases-9th Revision-Clinical Modifications from 806.0 to
806.9 and from 952.0 to 952.9. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects (N=219) employed at the
time of injury. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Employment
status after an SCI. RESULTS: The employment rate was 32.9%. After controlling
for other variables, education level (relative rate [RR]=4.01 approximately
8.17), autonomy in transportation (RR=5.13), professional licensure (RR=1.86),
and thrill and adventure-seeking trait (RR=1.12) were positively and
significantly associated with employment, while subjects with more severe overall
injury severity (RR=0.95), preinjury chronic conditions (RR=0.20), necessity for
aids for daily living (RR=0.31), and depression (RR=0.38) were less likely to
have been employed than their counterparts. CONCLUSIONS:
In addition to education
level and traditional physical factors, overall injury severity and psychologic
factors such as thrill and adventure seeking and depression can also influence
the return to work after an SCI.

Langue : ANGLAIS