SCI Publications

The International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) includes testing light touch (LT) and sharp/dull discrimination, also known as pinprick (PP) testing. The order these tests are performed varies by clinician and no true standard exists. This study examined patients’ perceptions of discomfort from each modality and ...

Study compiled neurological recovery data from three established spinal cord injury (SCI) registries: the North American Clinical Trial Network (NACTN), the European Multicenter Study about Spinal Cord Injury (EMSCI), and the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS). The purpose was to establish a modern-day international benchmark for neurological recovery following ...

Study evaluated bone microstructure of the distal tibia and radius using high‐resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography in 13 men with spinal cord injury (SCI) who regularly trained with functional electrical stimulation (FES) rowing. The purpose was to determine whether the amount of FES rowing (total distance rowed and peak foot ...

Study investigated the association between insurance provider and reported assistive technology (AT) use to access computers and electronic devices 1 year after sustaining tetraplegia. Data were analyzed for 498 men and women with tetraplegia who were enrolled in the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems National Database. The primary study outcome ...

Study investigated the relationship between the Asia Impairment Scale (AIS) and bladder and bowel functions after spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants underwent an International Standards for Neurologic Classification After SCI (ISNCSCI) examination along with evaluation of the sacral components of bladder and bowel function from the International Standards to Document ...

Study evaluated the feasibility and robustness of compound muscle action potential (CMAP) and motor unit (MU) number estimation (MUNE) recording techniques in the wild type rat forelimb and hindlimb through repeated measurements to determine mean values and test-retest reliability. CMAP and MUNE are well-established methods that allow longitudinal MU integrity ...

Study examined the use of complementary therapies during rehabilitation for patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Secondary analyses were conducted to identify the use and associated outcomes of complementary therapies provided by occupational therapists (OTs) and physical therapists (PTs) during rehabilitation, using a public dataset composed of 1376 patients ...

Study designed and evaluated the use of an interview-based version of the anorectal portion of the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) exam in the acute inpatient rehabilitation (AIR) setting. Participants admitted to AIR underwent standard ISNCSCI exams (S-ISNCSCI) as part of routine inpatient care within ...

Study identified the association between health behaviors and risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in 3,070 adults with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants were identified through records at a large rehabilitation hospital in the Southeastern United States. Behavioral data were collected by mail-in self report assessment between 1997-1998 and ...

Study investigated which characteristics of wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI) are associated with greater perceived discrimination in the healthcare setting, and how such discrimination relates to 2 outcomes: pain and depressive symptoms. Data were collected between 2011 and 2016 from 410 full-time wheelchair users with SCI from 9 ...

Study investigated the relationships between pre-existing migraines and acute (within 72 hours) symptoms and cognitive performance after a suspected concussion. From a total of 39,161 adolescent athletes who underwent baseline preseason testing, 633 were assessed within 3 days of a suspected concussion. Of these, 59 (9.3 percent) reported a history ...

Objectives: In a sample of wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI), the objectives were to investigate which participant characteristics are associated with greater perceived discrimination in the health care setting, and how such discrimination relates to health outcomes of pain and depressive symptoms. Design: Survey, cross-sectional. Setting: Spinal ...

OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to examine demographic, cognitive, emotional, and physical factors that predict return to paid employment for people after neurological injury. METHOD. Four hundred eighty adults with stroke (n = 149), traumatic brain injury (n = 155), and spinal cord injury (n = 176) completed an occupational outcome questionnaire ...

Objective: To examine whether commonly used comorbidity indexes (Deyo-Charlson comorbidity index, Elixhauser comorbidity index, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] comorbidity tiers) capture comorbidities in the acute traumatic and nontraumatic SCI inpatient rehabilitation population. Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Participants: Data were obtained from the Uniform Data System ...

Objective: Evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) and one-year mortality among people who survived the first 90 days after spinal cord injury (SCI).Design: Cohort study.Setting: Eighteen SCI Model Systems centers throughout the United States.Participants: 6640 participants (men, 79.6%; mean age, 42.8 ± 17.7y; Whites, 62.3%) who had an ...

      OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of neighborhood in the relation between race and obesity in people with spinal cord injury (SCI).         DESIGN: A cross-sectional analysis of survey data from National SCI Database linked with neighborhood data from American Community Survey by census tract.         SETTING: A total of 17 SCI Model Systems centers.         PARTICIPANTS: ...

Objective To determine whether and to what degree bias and underestimated variability undermine the predictive value of preclinical research for clinical translation. Methods We investigated experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) studies for outcome heterogeneity and the impact of bias. Data from 549 preclinical SCI studies including 9,535 animals were ...