Ethnicity/racial differences in employment outcomes following spinal cord injury.
OBJECTIVE
To examine differences in employment outcomes among Hispanics and Caucasians with Spinal Cord Injuries at one year post-injury.


METHODS
Retrospective study.


METHODS
Longitudinal dataset of the SCI Model Systems.


METHODS
11,424 Individuals diagnosed with spinal cord injury (1369 Hispanics and 10055 Caucasians) that were enrolled in the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) database and interviewed during their scheduled one-year post-injury follow-up evaluation between 1975 and 2006.


METHODS
Employment status (competitively employed, unemployed and other).


RESULTS
After adjusting for age, gender, marital status, education level, employment status at admissions, cause of injury, category of neuro-impairment, and ASIA impairment scale, race/ethnicity has a significant effect on employment status at 1 year post-injury. Specifically, the odds of unemployment versus employment were 1.864 times greater for Hispanics than for Caucasians (95% CI = 1.478, 2.349) and the odds of unemployment versus other were 1.980 times greater for Hispanics than for Caucasians (95% CI = 1.625, 2.413).


CONCLUSIONS
Racial disparities do exist in successful employment after 1 year post SCI, particularly between Caucasians and Hispanics. Future research should focus on what factors contribute to this disparity, along with forming new education and rehabilitation strategies to improve return-to-work outcomes for Hispanics after SCI.
Arango-Lasprilla
Juan Carlos
JC
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. jcarangolasp@vcu.edu
Ketchum
Jessica M
JM
Stevens
Lillian Flores
LF
Balcazar
Fabricio
F
Wehman
Paul
P
Forster
Lauren
L
Hsu
Nansy
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult