Long-term follow-up of patients with spinal cord injury with a new ICF-based tool.
METHODS
To develop a computer program that supports the overview of a follow-up care process in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in daily clinical practice.


OBJECTIVE
To create a new electronic tool based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) that enables information to be registered and visualized, including the use of a net-diagram ('spider') to show a patient's long-term development. This diagram helps the clinician to recognize predispositions over time, as well as making information accessible to the patient, so as to involve him as a participant in defining current and future treatment options. Furthermore, guidelines for the prevention of common diseases, based on the recommendations of internal medicine, rehabilitation medicine and findings in the SCI literature, were implemented to provide enhanced health coaching in the area of preventative care.


METHODS
In an outpatient setting, four perspectives were assessed: patient, physician, occupational therapist and physiotherapist for a comprehensive bio-psycho-social consideration. All categories were assessed and graphically visualized with the electronic tool, on the basis of the ICF domains: body function, activities/participation and environmental factors.


RESULTS
The assessed data were summarized and graphically represented using three spider charts.


CONCLUSIONS
The tool facilitates the patient counselling and the interdisciplinary work in daily clinical practice. Such a visual report helps to recognize predispositions over time. Furthermore, it helps to explain the clinical and patient-related findings accessible to the patients, to involve them as participants in defining the goals and the treatment plan.
Spreyermann
R
R
REHAB Basel, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Basel, Switzerland. r.spreyermann@rehab.ch
Lüthi
H
H
Michel
F
F
Baumberger
M E
ME
Wirz
M
M
Mäder
M
M
D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases / Q000592:standards*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software / Q000592:standards*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013997:Time Factors