SCI Publications

Study explored women’s experiences of living with spinal cord injury (SCI) and neurogenic bladder and bowel (NBB), a chronic condition hindering the functioning and quality of life of people with SCI. Secondary analysis of semi-structured interviews from a larger qualitative study of 50 women with SCI was conducted. Transcripts ...

Study documented trends in the demographic and injury profile of new spinal cord injury (SCI) cases over time. Data were collected from the National SCI Database for 30,881 patients with traumatic SCI who received care from 1 of 28 SCI Model Systems centers throughout the United States. To evaluate ...

Study investigated whether spinal cord injury-induced immune deficiency syndrome (SCI-IDS) may account for the enhanced infection susceptibility based on spinal cord injury (SCI) lesion level. Pneumonia is the leading cause of death after acute SCI and is associated with poor neurological outcome. Researchers applied a clinically relevant model of ...

Study investigated the association of multiple sets of risk and protective factors (biographic and injury, socioeconomic, health) with cause-specific mortality after spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants were 8,157 adults with traumatic SCI who were enrolled in a SCI Model Systems facility after 1973. All-cause mortality was determined using the ...

Study assessed the effects of gene expression or intracellular signaling in paralyzed muscles of men with long-standing spinal cord injury (SCI). Specifically, it examined the expression of genes (TNFαR, TNFα, IL-6R, IL-6, TWEAK, TWEAK R, atrogin-1, and MuRF1) and abundance of intracellular signaling proteins (TWEAK, TWEAK R, NF-κB, and ...

Study examined the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and pressure ulcers (PrU), after controlling for demographic and injury characteristics, socioeconomic factors, health behaviors and fatigue among 350 participants with spinal cord injury (SCI). Blood tests and physical examination were performed. Waist circumference, high-density cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and fasting ...

Study developed mathematical models for predicting level of independence with specific functional outcomes 1 year after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation for spinal cord injury (SCI). Specifically, the study compared the accuracy and performance of statistical analyses using artificial neural networks (ANNs) and logistic regression methods to estimate longer-term ambulation ...

Study identified factors that contribute to variable placebo responses in clinical trials involving individuals with central neuropathic pain. Defined as a reduction in pain in the placebo arm of a clinical trial, the “placebo response” includes the placebo effect (the true psychobiological effects causing a reduction in pain) in ...

Study used musculoskeletal modeling and forward dynamics simulations to investigate the influence of the hand pattern used during manual wheelchair propulsion on specific measures of upper-extremity muscle demand. The hand pattern (i.e., full-cycle hand path) used during manual wheelchair propulsion is frequently classified as one of four distinct hand ...

Study examined the construct of loneliness and its correlates in people with spinal cord injury (SCI), assessed the reliability and validity of the 3-item Loneliness Scale, and evaluated the unique impact of loneliness on psychological health. Data were collected from 175 people with SCI who participated in Spinal Cord ...

This article provides an overview of existing spinal cord injury (SCI) clinical research databases, including their purposes, characteristics, and accessibility to users; and presents a vision for future collaborations required for clinical research in SCI. This vision highlights the need for validated and relevant data for longitudinal clinical trials ...

Study identified behaviors associated with the management of neurogenic bowel and bladder among individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) and explored whether relationships exist between the performance of those behaviors and outcomes related to health and quality of life (QOL). A survey developed to collect self-report information about ...

Study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index/Assistive Technology (SCI-FI/AT) short forms (SFs) in the domains of basic mobility, self-care, fine motor function, and ambulation based on internal consistency, with specific SFs for people with paraplegia and tetraplegia. The study also examined correlations between SFs and ...

This study was conducted to describe individual-level temporal change in life satisfaction after spinal cord injury (SCI) using individual growth curve (IGC) analysis of prospectively collected data from the National Spinal Cord Injury Database (NSCID). IGC methodology allows researchers and clinicians to anticipate patient-specific trajectories through use of an ...

Study used previous research data to determine appropriate roughness thresholds to characterize whether pedestrian pathways poses a comfort or health risk to wheelchair users. A previously published study investigated the correlation between the pathway roughness index (PRI) and whole body vibration (WBV) exposure to wheelchair users. The results of ...

Study identified changes in the prevalence of cigarette smoking approximately 1 year after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation for spinal cord injury (SCI). Self-report assessments were completed by 129 participants with SCI during initial inpatient rehabilitation and at an average follow-up of 489 days after injury. Results indicated that the ...

Study investigated whether there have been improvements in long-term survival after spinal cord injury (SCI) in recent decades. Specifically, this study examined mortality in people with SCI since 1973, focusing on the most recent period 2005 to 2012, to determine whether long-term survival, survival relative to the general population, ...

Study investigated the relationships of hand contact angle with propulsion characteristics, pushrim forces, and shoulder kinetics during wheelchair propulsion (WCP) in individuals with paraplegia from spinal cord injury (SCI). Biomechanical data were collected from 222 individuals with paraplegia during WCP on a stationary ergometer at a self-selected speed. Multivariate ...

Study investigated the effects of single doses of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) on lower-limb voluntary and reflex function in individuals with chronic stroke. Ten individuals with post-stroke hemiplegia for more than 1 year were assessed before and 5 hours after they were randomly assigned to receive a ...

Article describes techniques and factors influencing car transfer and wheelchair loading for 29 individuals with paraplegia driving their own vehicles and using their personal wheelchairs. Sedans were the most common vehicle driven. Just over half of drivers placed their right leg only into the vehicle prior to transfer. Overall, ...