Article

OBJECTIVE: To test subgroups of a community-based sample of individuals with
spinal cord injury, categorized by the application of current recommendations by
the International Spinal Cord Society. DESIGN: Community survey. PARTICIPANTS:
Individuals with traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injury residing in
Switzerland. METHODS: Recommended subgroups of age, gender, years since injury,
severity of injury and aetiology were tested against the following criteria: (i)
distribution of participants across categories; (ii) within- and between-group
variability with regard to selected outcomes of functioning and quality of life.
RESULTS: Data-sets for 1,549 participants (28.5% women; mean age 52 +/- 15 years)
were available for analyses. There was a number of participants in every
subgroup, yet numbers were relatively small in the group with the shortest time
since injury (< 1 year; n = 23) and in the oldest age group (>/= 76; n = 94). A
high variability in some outcomes was detected between categories. All variables
were predictive for most of the endpoints investigated. CONCLUSION: Recommended
categorization could well fit the present sample. A minor concern was the low
numbers of participants in some subgroups.

Langue : ANGLAIS