Narrative review of clinical practice guidelines for rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injury: 2010–2020

Model System:

Burn

Reference Type:

Journal article

Accession No.:

J87106

Journal:

American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Year, Volume, Issue, Page(s):

2021 , 100, 5, 501-512

Publication Website:

Abstract:

This review examined the quality and applicability of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation to assess whether the guideline development has followed a prescribed and recognized vetting process and the CPG content specifically includes function. A key word search of the PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, CINHAL, and Web of Science databases identified 359 articles; 58 of these underwent full-text review, and13 met the criteria for inclusion. An additional publication was included following a review of the grey literature. Five articles addressed postacute care and/or community treatment. Nine articles had no recorded vetting process but addressed rehabilitation as an outcome and were included separately. Many of the CPGs were developed without evidence from randomized controlled trials, one had input from stakeholders, and some are out of date. Others do not address important aspects of changes in demographics of the affected population and the use of newer technologies such as sensors and robotics and devices. The findings indicate that there are significant gaps in the rehabilitation research literature that has resulted in the publication of only a few CPGs for people with SCI in recent years. Identification of these gaps may help stimulate treatment that is clinically relevant, accessible, and current.

Author(s):