Article

OBJECTIVES: To identify (1) the annual incidence of subsequent injury and
injury-related hospitalizations in persons with preexisting spinal cord injury
(SCI) and (2) risk and protective behaviors associated with differential risk for
injury. DESIGN: Longitudinal mailed survey. Participants were enrolled in 1997 to
1998, with a follow-up conducted 10 years later. SETTING:
Data were collected
from participants identified from a specialty hospital and were analyzed at a
medical university in the Southeastern United States. PARTICIPANTS: Participants
(N=1386) during the baseline enrollment, 821 of whom also participated in the
10-year follow-up. Inclusion criteria were (1) traumatic SCI with residual
impairment, (2) nonsurgical onset, (3) aged 18 years or older, and (4) a minimum
of 12 months post-SCI. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Number of injuries severe enough to require treatment in a clinic, emergency
department, or hospital in the 12 months before the survey and number of
injury-related hospitalizations. Predictor variables included selected items from
the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality
Questionnaire, and prescription medication use. RESULTS: More than 23% of
participants reported at least 1 injury within the past year, an increase from
that reported 10 years earlier by the same participants (19%), and 7% reported at
least 1 injury-related hospitalization. Those who reported a subsequent injury
during the preliminary baseline data collection were about twice as likely to
report at least 1 injury 10 years later. Binge drinking, psychotropic
prescription medication use, and several personality characteristics also were
related to injuries and/or injury-related hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Risk for
injury continues to be a significant concern in the years and decades after SCI
onset. Behavioral and personality factors hold the key to prevention.
CI - Copyright (c) 2010 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS