Pneumonia history and long-term impact on people with traumatic spinal cord injury: A 5-year cohort study

Cohort study.

To identify the self-reported pneumonia history since spinal cord injury (SCI) onset and the self-reported period prevalence of pneumonia in the past 12 months, and to investigate the relationship between a history of pneumonia (measured at time 1) and health conditions five years later (time 2).

Medical University in the Southeastern United States.

Participants (N = 768) met the following inclusion criteria: traumatic SCI of at least 1-year duration, minimum of 18 years of age, and residual impairment from SCI. Of these, 554 (72%) were successfully followed up, who comprised of our final sample. We used the Poisson regression model to examine the association between pneumonia history at time 1 with the self-reported health conditions at time 2.

At time 1 measurement, 29% of participants reported pneumonia history since SCI onset. Among them, 14% had pneumonia once, and 15% experienced pneumonia more than once. After controlling for other independent variables, participants who reported multiple episodes of pneumonia at time 1 had a 22% higher likelihood of experiencing a health problem at time 2 than those without a pneumonia history.

The repeated pneumonia history in the past is a significant predictor for future pneumonia episodes and other health conditions. It is important to prevent recurrent pneumonia to enhance both the longevity and quality of life for individuals with SCI.