Article

OBJECTIVE: To describe group therapy utilization in spinal cord injury (SCI)
inpatient rehabilitation. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Six
inpatient rehabilitation facilities. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=1376) receiving
initial rehabilitation after traumatic SCI. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN
OUTCOME MEASURE: Time spent in group versus individual therapy for physical
therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), therapeutic recreation (TR), and
psychology (PSY) therapies. RESULTS: The majority (98%) of patients participated
in at least 1 group therapy session, with 83%, 81%, 80%, and 54% of patients
receiving group PT, OT, TR, and PSY, respectively. On average, 24% of treatment
sessions and 27% of treatment time was provided in group sessions, with TR
providing the greatest percent of its time in groups. Group therapy time and time
spent in specific activities varied among patient subgroups with different injury
characteristics. Group therapy time also varied widely among centers (range,
1.2-6.6h/wk). Across all injury subgroups, individual and group therapy hours per
week were negatively correlated for OT and positively correlated for TR. Patient
characteristics, clinician experience, and treatment center predicted 32% of
variance in group hours per week. PT and OT strengthening/endurance interventions
and TR outings were the most common group activities overall. CONCLUSIONS: While
the majority of inpatient SCI rehabilitation consists of individual sessions,
most patients participate in group therapy, which contributes significantly to
total therapy time. Patterns of group utilization fit with functional
expectations and clinical goals. A trade-off between group and individual therapy
may occur in some disciplines. Utilization of group therapy varies widely among
centers, and further study is needed to identify optimal patterns of group
therapy utilization.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS