SCI Publications

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 ...

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 evaluated the efficacy of a replicable cognitive behavioral therapy-based intervention for improving self-efficacy after spinal cord injury (SCI). The intervention, Re-Inventing Yourself after SCI, is a replicable, manualized, educationally based group treatment program. Eighty-one individuals with SCI who were at least 4 weeks post-discharge from initial rehabilitation were randomly ...

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 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 ...

Background and purpose: Refinement of robotic exoskeletons for overground walking is progressing rapidly. We describe clinicians' experiences, evaluations, and training strategies using robotic exoskeletons in spinal cord injury rehabilitation and wellness settings and describe clinicians' perceptions of exoskeleton benefits and risks and developments that would enhance utility. Methods: We ...

Study re-evaluated recent work identifying pneumonia and postoperative wound infections (Pn/Wi) as risk markers for impaired long-term functional recovery and survival after spinal cord injury (SCI). The study was considered as a strong statistical analysis. However, some unexplored putative confounders in terms of nonrandom loss to follow-up, temporal changes in ...

Study evaluated the effects of pressure threshold respiratory training (RT) on heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). The 44 participants consisted of 24 persons with chronic SCI ranging from C2 to T11 who participated in RT, and untrained 20 control subjects with ...

Study examined clinicians' experiences, evaluations, and training strategies using robotic exoskeletons in spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation and wellness settings and assessed clinicians' perceptions of exoskeleton benefits and risks and developments that would enhance utility. Focus groups were conducted at 4 SCI Model System (SCIMS) centers. A court reporter took ...

To evaluate the relation between wheelchair breakdowns, their immediate consequences, and secondary health complications after spinal cord injury. "Immediate consequences" occur when part of a wheelchair breaks and leaves an individual stranded or injured, or causes him or her to miss medical appointments, work, or school. ...

Pilot test GoWoman, a small-group weight management intervention for mobility impaired women that was a disability- and gender-responsive adaptation of the Diabetes Prevention Program delivered in the online virtual world of Second Life®. Objectives were to (1) examine pre-/post-intervention differences in weight, waist circumference, diet, physical activity, self-efficacy for ...

Study investigated the amount and impact of gait training (GT) during inpatient rehabilitation (IPR) for non-ambulatory people with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) using data from the SCIRehab database. A total of 1,376 patients with new SCI receiving initial rehabilitation were divided into groups consisting of those who did and ...

Study examined the role of race/ethnicity on data quality and response completeness among individuals enrolled in a longitudinal spinal cord injury (SCI) database. This study included 7,507 adults (5,483 non-Hispanic whites, 1,414 non-Hispanic blacks, and 610 Hispanics) from 19 SCI Model Systems centers, who returned for follow-up between 2001 ...

Study examined functional status during the first 10 years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) among individuals with disorders of consciousness (i.e., coma, vegetative state, minimally conscious state). Participants included 110 individuals with TBI who were unable to follow commands prior to inpatient rehabilitation and for whom follow-up data were available ...

Study identified demographic and clinical factors associated with loss to follow-up (FU) at post-injury years 1 to 35 among 25,871 people with spinal cord injury (SCI) enrolled in the National Spinal Cord Injury Database. Loss to FU was defined as no research information obtained from participants who were eligible ...

Study assessed the reliability of specific quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measures of the supraspinatus tendon when performed by different image analysts across two analysis sessions. Transverse images of the supraspinatus tendon were captured from eleven subjects (22 shoulders) by two ultrasonographers, and each image was analyzed by two image analysts who ...

Background: There is a need to identify reliable biomarkers of spinal cord injury recovery for clinical practice and clinical trials. Objective: Our objective was to correlate serum albumin levels with spinal cord injury neurological outcomes. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (n ...

Variable and unpredictable spontaneous recovery can occur after acute cervical traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI). Despite the critical clinical and interventional trial planning implications of this tSCI feature, baseline measures to predict neurologic recovery accurately are not well defined. In this study, we used data derived from 99 consecutive ...

Study examined the utility of serum albumin concentrations early after spinal cord injury (SCI) in predicting long-term neurological outcomes after an acute traumatic SCI. A secondary analysis was performed on data from 591 patients with traumatic SCI participating in a clinical trial testing the efficacy of monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM-1) ganglioside therapy ...

To examine the ability of the Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index/Assistive Technology (SCI-FI/AT) measure to detect change in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).