Access and engagement with places in the community, and the quality of life among people with spinal cord damage

Abstract Study design Multicenter observational study. Objective To describe the long-term outcome of functional independence and quality of life (QoL) for individuals with traumatic and ischemic SCI beyond the first year after injury. Setting A multicenter study in Germany. Methods Participants of the European multicenter study about spinal cord injury (EMSCI) of three German SCI centers were included and followed over time by the German spinal cord injury cohort study (GerSCI). Individuals’ most recent spinal cord independence measure (SCIM) scores assessed by a clinician were followed up by a self-report (SCIM-SR) and correlated to selected items of the WHO short survey of quality of life (WHO-QoL-BREF). Results Data for 359 individuals were obtained. The average time passed the last clinical SCIM examination was 81.47 (SD 51.70) months. In total, 187 of the 359 received questionnaires contained a completely evaluable SCIM-SR. SCIM scores remained stable with the exception of reported management of bladder and bowel resulting in a slight decrease of SCIM-SR of −2.45 points (SD 16.81). SCIM-SR scores showed a significant correlation with the selected items of the WHO-QoL-BREF (p < 0.01) with moderate to strong influence. Conclusion SCIM score stability over time suggests a successful transfer of acquired independence skills obtained during primary rehabilitation into the community setting paralleled by positively related QoL measurements but bladder and bowel management may need special attention.

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The impact of COVID-19 on community integration, quality of life, depression and anxiety in people with chronic spinal cord injury

Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine ◽

10.1080/10790268.2021.1922230 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Alejandro García-Rudolph ◽

Joan Saurí ◽

Jaume López Carballo ◽

Blanca Cegarra ◽

Mark Andrew Wright ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Community Integration ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Chronic Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Cord Injury ◽

The Impact

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Excretory dysfunction and quality of life after a spinal cord injury: A cross‐sectional study

Journal of Clinical Nursing ◽

10.1111/jocn.15689 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (9-10) ◽

pp. 1394-1402

Author(s):

De Gong ◽

Yingmin Wang ◽

Lirong Zhong ◽

Mengmeng Jia ◽

Ting Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Cord Injury

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Utilization of laser interstitial thermotherapy guided by real-time thermal MRI as an alternative to separation surgery in the management of spinal metastasis

Journal of Neurosurgery Spine ◽

10.3171/2015.2.spine141185 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 400-411 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Claudio E. Tatsui ◽

R. Jason Stafford ◽

Jing Li ◽

Jonathan N. Sellin ◽

Behrang Amini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Spinal Cord ◽

Real Time ◽

Spinal Cord Compression ◽

Spinal Metastasis ◽

Cord Compression ◽

The Mean ◽

Interstitial Thermotherapy

OBJECT High-grade malignant spinal cord compression is commonly managed with a combination of surgery aimed at removing the epidural tumor, followed by spinal stereotactic radiosurgery (SSRS) aimed at local tumor control. The authors here introduce the use of spinal laser interstitial thermotherapy (SLITT) as an alternative to surgery prior to SSRS. METHODS Patients with a high degree of epidural malignant compression due to radioresistant tumors were selected for study. Visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain and quality of life were obtained before and within 30 and 60 days after treatment. A laser probe was percutaneously placed in the epidural space. Real-time thermal MRI was used to monitor tissue damage in the region of interest. All patients received postoperative SSRS. The maximum thickness of the epidural tumor was measured, and the degree of epidural spinal cord compression (ESCC) was scored in pre- and postprocedure MRI. RESULTS In the 11 patients eligible for study, the mean VAS score for pain decreased from 6.18 in the preoperative period to 4.27 within 30 days and 2.8 within 60 days after the procedure. A similar VAS interrogating the percentage of quality of life demonstrated improvement from 60% preoperatively to 70% within both 30 and 60 days after treatment. Imaging follow-up 2 months after the procedure demonstrated a significant reduction in the mean thickness of the epidural tumor from 8.82 mm (95% CI 7.38–10.25) before treatment to 6.36 mm (95% CI 4.65–8.07) after SLITT and SSRS (p = 0.0001). The median preoperative ESCC Grade 2 was scored as 4, which was significantly higher than the score of 2 for Grade 1b (p = 0.04) on imaging follow-up 2 months after the procedure. CONCLUTIONS The authors present the first report on an innovative minimally invasive alternative to surgery in the management of spinal metastasis. In their early experience, SLITT has provided local control with low morbidity and improvement in both pain and the quality of life of patients.

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