title: Factors influencing functional outcome and discharge disposition after thoracic spinal cord injury.
abstract: The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe the relationships among level of injury, completeness of impairment, age, complexity of coexistent disease, functional outcomes, and discharge disposition in persons with traumatic thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI). The sample consisted of 41 persons with acute traumatic thoracic SCI discharged from a 48-bed rehabilitation unit between 1992 and 1997. Persons with complete SCI had significantly lower Functional Independence Measure scores than persons with incomplete SCI (p < .05). The effect of the completeness of injury did not persist to discharge FIM scores. Persons discharged to home without a home-health referral (HHR) had higher FIM scores than those discharged to home with one. Persons discharged to home with an HHR had higher FIM scores than those discharged to skilled nursing facility units, although these were not statistically significant. The findings of this study suggest that rehabilitation goals and discharge disposition planning for persons with traumatic thoracic SCI cannot be based on level and completeness of injury alone. The interdisciplinary team must understand the abilities, needs, and disposition of this population to develop rehabilitation goals and interventions that are feasible and realistic.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Medical Foundation, Rehabilitation Unit, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Basford
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000145:classification* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries*