Ethnicity and rehabilitation outcomes: the Needs Assessment Checklist

Retrospective cohort study with matched samples.

To investigate whether significant differences in rehabilitation outcomes exist between different ethnic groups, using the Needs Assessment Checklist (NAC).

Tertiary care, spinal cord injury rehabilitation unit (National Spinal Injuries Centre), Stoke Mandeville Hospital, UK.

Rehabilitation outcomes and demographic information were obtained from the NAC. Data on 461 individuals were included in the study. Analysis of variance was employed to investigate differences in rehabilitation outcomes between various ethnic groups, across both the whole cohort and matched samples.

Significant differences were evident across the different rehabilitation domains when ethnicity was examined, in particular within the domains of physical healthcare and psychological well-being. Within the unmatched data set, significant differences were found to exist in 3 of the 10 rehabilitation domains, and with the matched data set within 4 of the 10 domains. The results indicated that the cohort as a whole made significant improvements from the first to the second NAC within all rehabilitation domains.

Results indicate that ethnicity may have an impact on rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with spinal cord injury. Further investigation is needed to explore the nature of this relationship, and the future role of targeted interventions focusing on improving rehabilitation outcomes within the domains of physical and psychological care, in particular for individuals from different ethnic backgrounds.