Abstract
Krause JS. Risk for subsequent injuries after spinal cord injury: a 10-year longitudinal
analysis.
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.
Key Words
List of Abbreviations:
CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), SCI (spinal cord injury), ZKPQ (Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Footnotes
Supported by the Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (grant nos. H133N50022, H133N060009, and H133G050165). Contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
Reprints are not available from the author.
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
