Therapeutic path of Brazilians with spinal cord injury until rehabilitation

The start of rehabilitation directly affects the effectiveness of treatment. This is a quantitative, exploratory, analytical, and cross-sectional study, with 618 Brazilian adults with spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants were predominantly male (68.90%), with a mean age of 38.04 years (SD = 9.85), with higher education (49.50%), receiving social security benefits (63.60%), and with a monthly income of up to 3 minimum wages (55.10%). The main cause of SCI was traffic accident (40.80%) and 58.70% of the participants had paraplegia. Moreover, 19.40% had not undergone any rehabilitation and the mean time to start rehabilitation after SCI was 17.68 months (SD = 38.80). Participants with the highest level of education were 4.30 times more likely to undergo rehabilitation. The results suggest that those who were more educated and with higher income also had greater access to rehabilitation programs and sought these programs earlier. In contrast, those with less resources had fewer opportunities for rehabilitation. The optimization of referral systems in the health care network, outreach programs, and a greater supply of rehabilitation centers can increase access to rehabilitation among people with SCI.