One-year follow-up of Chinese people with spinal cord injury: a preliminary study

A tertiary spinal cord injury (SCI) center was established in the northern region of Hong Kong, China and a multidisciplinary SCI rehabilitation program was developed to reintegrate patients into the community.

To investigate functional outcomes for Chinese people with SCI across a 1-year period.

Longitudinal prospective design.

Thirty community-dwelling participants with traumatic SCI were recruited. Functional status was measured using functional independence measure (FIM) on admission, upon discharge, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year post-discharge. Information on use of assistive devices and life role were also obtained.

Twenty-three (76.67%) participants were men. Seventeen participants (10 with tetraplegia and 7 with paraplegia) were classified ASIA A, B, or C; 13 (7 with tetraplegia and 6 with paraplegia) were classified as ASIA D. Significant differences in FIM motor scores were only found between the tetraplegia group and three other diagnostic groups using Bonferroni post-hoc tests of repeated measure ANOVA (analysis of variance) (P < 0.05). Longitudinally, contrast tests of repeated measure ANOVA showed significant differences during the hospitalization period for all diagnostic groups. People in the ASIA D group showed significant functional improvement even after 1-year post-discharge (P < 0.05). At 1-year post-discharge, only two participants were engaged in either remunerative employment or academic pursuit.

Despite functional status improvement, few people with traumatic SCI were re-engaged in productive life role 1 year after discharge. Studies with longer follow-up would be beneficial.