Abstract
Objective
To identify the self-reported frequency of emergency department (ED) visits, ED-related
hospitalizations, and reasons for ED visits among people with traumatic spinal cord
injury (SCI) and compare them with general population data from the same geographic
area.
Design
Cross-sectional.
Setting
A specialty hospital in the Southeastern United States.
Participants
The participants (N=648) were community-dwelling adults (18 years and older) with
a traumatic SCI, who were at least 1 year postinjury. A comparison group of 9728 individuals
from the general population was retrieved from the 2017 National Health Interview
Survey (NHIS).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Participants completed self-report assessments on ED visits, ED hospitalizations,
and reasons for ED visits in the past 12 months using items from the NHIS.
Results
A total of 37% of participants with SCI reported at least 1 ED visit, and 18% reported
at least 1 ED hospitalization in the past 12 months. Among those having at least 1
ED visit, 49% were admitted to hospitals. After controlling for sex, age, and race/ethnicity,
participants with SCI were 151% more likely to visit the ED (odds ratio [OR], 2.51)
and 249% more likely to have at least 1 ED hospitalization than the NHIS sample (OR,
3.49). Persons with SCI had a higher percentage of ED visits because of severe health
conditions, reported an ED was the closest provider, and were more likely to arrive
by ambulance. NHIS participants were more likely to visit the ED because no other
option was available.
Conclusions
Compared with those in the general population, individuals with SCI have substantially
higher rates of ED visits, yet ED visits are not regularly assessed within the SCI
Model Systems. ED visits may indicate the need for intervention beyond the acute condition
leading directly to the ED visits and an opportunity to link individuals with resources
needed to maintain function in the community.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AIS (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale), ED (emergency department), NHIS (National Health Interview Survey), OR (odds ratio), SCI (spinal cord injury), SCIMS (Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems), US (United States)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 28, 2021
Accepted:
February 19,
2021
Received in revised form:
February 15,
2021
Received:
October 8,
2020
Footnotes
Supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant no. 90SI5016). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this publication do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Disclosures: none
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
