Mobility aids and transport possibilities 10–45 years after spinal cord injury

Abstract

Study design: A cross-sectional survey with retrospective data. Objective: Follow-up information on the use of mobility aids and transportation possibilities in a chronic traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) population. Setting: Clinic for Para-and Tetraplegia at Rigshospitalet, University hospital, Denmark (CPT). The uptake area is East Denmark with a population of 2.5 million inhabitants. Methods: Survey on date of birth, gender, time of SCI, cause of SCI, neurological level and functional classification from medical files were combined with information concerning mobility aids and transport possibilities at the time of follow-up from a mailed questionnaire. Material: Individuals with traumatic SCI before 1 January 1991 were still in regular follow-up at CPT, and with sufficient medical record. A total of 279 were included, out of which 236 answered the questionnaire. Of the 193 men and 43 women injured from 1956 to 1990 the response rate was 84.6%. Age at the time of follow-up was 50.5 years in mean, and follow-up time was 24.1 years in mean. In all, 126 were paraplegic and 110 tetraplegic. Responders and nonresponders were comparable. Results: In all, 3.4% used no special mobility aids at all. In total, 49 used crutches or rolling walkers and 26 lower extremities bracing, but mostly in combination with a wheelchair. Standing frame and stand-up wheelchair were used by men only. Manual wheelchair was used by 83.5% and electrical wheelchair by 27%, and the latter more by the tetraplegics. In all, 9.3% had neither a manual nor an electrical wheelchair. Overall, 86.4% had a passenger van or another car. Women used a car less often. Passenger vans were more often used by tetraplegics. Conclusion: Nearly all SCI participants had mobility aids of some sort, and 90.7% had either a manual or an electrical wheelchair or both. Most had a passenger van or another type of car for transportation. These facilities are important for the individuals to obtain an independent living.

Home aids and personal assistance 10–45 years after spinal cord injury

“…11 For the home aids/ adaptation, 97% questions, and for personal assistance, 100% questions gave exactly the same answer. Therefore, the reproducibility was satisfactory.…”

“…[11][12][13][14] The data concerning home aids, adaptations and personal assistance at the time of follow-up are given in Figure 1.…”

“…Minor adjustments were made. 11 To test the validity of the process of transferring the information from the questionnaire into the database, 10% (N ¼ 24) of the questionnaires were checked thoroughly a second time. 11 All data entries concerning the present publication were correct.…”

Activities of daily living performed by individuals with SCI: relationships with physical fitness and leisure time physical activity

“…5 As a result of reduced function, some ADL take longer to complete. Also, individuals with tetraplegia are less likely to use manual wheelchairs as their primary mode of mobility 6 thus reducing the amount of time spent engaged in mobility activities.…”

Developing core sets for persons with spinal cord injuries based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a way to specify functioning

“…26 In some countries most persons with SCI have a variety of mobility aids and transportation facilities available to them to live independently and attain high life satisfaction. 27,28 Measuring consequences of SCI A wide range of instruments is used in research to measure health, psychological and social functioning, well-being and life satisfaction of persons with SCI. 29 Most of these functional status and 'quality of life' measures were not developed for use in SCI populations and the validity of most measures for use in this group has not been established.…”