SCI Publications

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 ...

Article describes the development and psychometric evaluation of patient-reported outcome measures that assess pain interference and pain behavior after spinal cord injury (SCI). These measures include the Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Pain Interference item bank, SCI-QOL Pain Interference short form, and SCI-QOL Pain Behavior scale. ...

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 ...

Study investigated whether antispasmodic medications are associated with neurological and functional outcomes during the first year after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). A retrospective analysis was conducted of data collected prospectively from six inpatient SCI rehabilitation centers. Baseline-adjusted outcomes at discharge and one-year follow-up were compared using analysis of covariance ...

Article describes the scoping review protocol that will be used to evaluate peer-reviewed articles focused on activity-based therapy (ABT) interventions for individuals with neurologically impaired upper extremities. A scoping review provides a means to synthesize and present a large body of literature on a broad topic, such as methods for ...

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 ...

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 ...

Article reviews the research on the axon’s response after spina cord injury (SCI), including axonal dieback and degeneration, then discusses the current understanding of intrinsic pathways affecting central nervous system (CNS) axon growth potential. Finally, the authors describe the extrinsic factors that have been identified as inhibitors of axonal regeneration. ...

Study examined the rate of alcohol consumption and binge drinking among recently injured individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), compared these rates to data from the general population, and identified changes in alcohol use over time. Self-reported assessments were completed during inpatient rehabilitation and at follow-up approximately 17 months later. ...

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 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 ...

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. ...

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 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 ...

Study compared the effects of an 8‐week isocaloric high‐protein (HP) diet versus a combined exercise regimen (Comb‐Ex) in individuals with long‐standing spinal cord injury (SCI). Twenty individuals with SCI enrolled in the University of Alabama at Birmingham SCI Model System were randomly assigned to the Comb-Ex or HP-diet group; 11 ...

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of a web-based transfer training module at improving transfer technique across 3 groups: web-based training, in-person training (current standard of practice), and a waitlist control group (WLCG); and secondarily, to determine subject factors that can be used to predict improvements in transfer ability after training. Design: ...