The impact of the COVID-19 virus and pandemic on healthcare utilization, access, delivery, experiences, and outcomes in the spinal cord injuries/dysfunction population: A scoping review study

Introduction: The change in environmental and social context measures during the COVID-19 pandemic affected daily activities of people with spinal cord injury (SCI), their inter-actions within the community, and consequently their social participation during the first wave of the pandemic. However, there is little information about the changes in social participation as the pandemic evolved in Canada. Objective: To describe the change in social participation of adults with SCI after the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Methods: A follow-up from a previous study exploring the social participation of adults with SCI living during the first wave was conducted eight months later (second wave). Social participation was measured using the Assessment of Life Habits (LIFE-H 4.0) and Measure of Quality of the Environment (MQE)) among 18 adults with SCI. Results: Participants reported increases between both waves of COVID-19 in life habits categories, including mobility, personal care and health, nutrition, and recreation. New environmental factors were identified as facilitators, including the increased availability of businesses in the community. Conclusion: These findings suggest that people with SCI increased fulfillment and satisfaction of certain life habits. Reduced environmental barriers and increased facilitators improved social participation as the pandemic evolved.

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COVID-19 and Mortality in the Spinal Cord Injury Population: Examining the Impact of Sex, Mental Health, and Injury Etiology

Senthinathan,

Tadrous,

Hussain

et al. 2024

Healthcare

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Background/Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality rates in a community-dwelling spinal cord injury (SCI) population in Ontario. Methods: Using health administrative databases, monthly mortality rates were evaluated pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, and post-pandemic from March 2014 to May 2024. Data were stratified by sex, injury etiology, and mental health status. Group differences were evaluated using t-tests. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models evaluated the pandemic’s impact on mortality rates. Results: A significant increase of 21.4% in mortality rates during the pandemic was found for the SCI cohort. With the exception of the traumatic group, all subgroups also experienced a significant increase in mortality rates (males: 13.9%, females: 31.9%, non-traumatic: 32.3%, mental health diagnoses: 19.6%, and mental health diagnoses: 29.4%). During the pandemic, females had a significantly higher mortality rate than males. The non-traumatic group had higher mortality rates than the traumatic group at all time periods. Individuals with mental health diagnoses had higher mortality rates than those without at the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Conclusions: The variation in mortality rates across groups highlights inequitable access to medical care in the SCI population, with further research and interventions needed.

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The impact of the COVID-19 virus and pandemic on healthcare utilization, access, delivery, experiences, and outcomes in the spinal cord injuries/dysfunction population: A scoping review study

Cited by 3 publications

References 53 publications

Examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on homecare services among individuals with traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injuries

Examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on homecare services among individuals with traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injuries

Change in Social Participation of Adults with Spinal Cord Injury During the First Two Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada

COVID-19 and Mortality in the Spinal Cord Injury Population: Examining the Impact of Sex, Mental Health, and Injury Etiology

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