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Comparison of the revised 2000 American Spinal Injury Association classification standards with the 1996 guidelines
Steven C Kirshblum1, Pietro Memmo, Nancy Kim
1Spinal Cord Injury and Ventilator Dependent Programs, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, West Orange, New Jersey 07052, USA.
Objective:
This study was undertaken to determine the level of agreement between the most recent change in the American Spinal Injury Association International Standards (2000) and the previous (1996) classification.
Design:
In a spinal cord injury rehabilitation hospital, data were collected on 94 subjects who had an initial neurologic examination according to the International Standards within 1 wk of injury and again at 1 yr. Comparisons were examined of the level of agreement between the 1996 and 2000 revisions in classification of the motor incomplete levels and ability to prognosticate outcome at 1 yr on the basis of the initial examination.
Results:
Near perfect agreement between the 1996 and 2000 revised guidelines in the classification of motor incomplete injuries was found, with no statistically significant difference for prognosticating neurologic recovery at 1 yr on the basis of the initial examination.
Conclusion:
The 2000 revisions do not offer a significant difference in American Spinal Injury Association impairment classification or in predicting neurologic recovery at 1 yr.