Characteristics of persons with spinal cord injury as documented by use of an interactive data system

Physicians need information about their rehabilitation practices that shows the types of patients being seen and the outcomes for their rehabilitation programs. In order to obtain more information on secondary medical complications and prevention programs, and to provide the information to the spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation team, an interactive data management system was developed.

Initial findings for the first 99 patients with SCI were presented for staff review. Demographic information indicated that patients typically lived in private residences, had at least a high school education, and had annual incomes < $20,000. There were nearly equal numbers of paraplegic and tetraplegic patients; 63% of patients were more than 50 years of age and 69% were more than 10 years post-injury. Over 80% of the patients reported satisfactory health, were physically active, and had adequate transportation. Paraplegic and tetraplegic patients had similar profiles for secondary complications.

The SCI staff was surprised that greater than 35% of patients with SCI reported current problems with spasticity, pain, and pressure ulcers. The staff was interested in obtaining additional patient-perception information including the severity of each problem, how the problem interfered with daily activity, and the desire for additional care. The staff felt that patients were reporting problems more often to the interviewer than to their physician. There was unanimous support for the ongoing collection of patient-perception information.