Abstract
Objectives
To detail the methodological features of the first International Spinal Cord Injury
(InSCI) Community Survey by describing recruitment and data collection procedures,
and to report on the recruitment results and basic characteristics of participants
by country and income setting.
Design
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting
Community setting in 22 countries representing all 6 World Health Organization regions.
Participants
Individuals (N=12,591) with traumatic or non-traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) aged
over 18 years.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Recruitment and data collection procedures, recruitment results, and basic sociodemographic
and lesion characteristics of participants.
Results
Eight countries used predefined sampling frames and 14 countries applied convenience
sampling for recruitment. Most countries recruited participants through specialized
rehabilitation facilities, patient organizations, or acute and general hospitals.
Modes of approaching potential participants depended on the sampling strategy and
multiple response modes were offered to maximize participation. Contact rates ranged
from 33% to 98%, cooperation rates ranged from 29% to 90%, and response rates ranged
from 23% to 54%. The majority of participants were men (73%), the median age was 52
years (interquartile range, 40-63y), 60% had a partner, 8% reported that they were
born in another country than where they were currently residing, and the median length
of education was 12 years (interquartile range, 9-15y). Paraplegia was the main diagnosis
(63%), traumatic etiologies were the major cause of injury (81%), and the median time
since injury (TSI) was 9 years (interquartile range, 4-19y). Compared with participants
from lower income settings, participants from higher income settings were over-represented
and, in general, were older, more often diagnosed with tetraplegia, had a longer TSI,
higher education, and were more often born in a country different than their current
residence country.
Conclusions
The successful implementation of the InSCI survey enables the comparison of the situation
of individuals with SCI around the world and constitutes a crucial starting point
for an international learning experience.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
GDP PPP (gross domestic product based on purchasing power parity), ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health), InSCI (International Spinal Cord Injury), ISCoS (International Spinal Cord Society), Q (quartile), SCI (spinal cord injury), TSI (time since injury), WHO (World Health Organization)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 10, 2020
Footnotes
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
