Study design: Retrospective cohort study.
Objective: Aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of complications at admission on the functional status of spinal cord lesions patients.
Setting: Rehabilitation hospital in Italy.
Methods: Two hundred and seven patients with complications (mostly pressure ulcers) at admission to rehabilitation were matched for neurological level of injury and AIS grade with 207 patients without complications.
Measures: International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury, Spinal Cord Independence Measure, Rivermead Mobility Index, and Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury. These measures were recorded at admission to rehabilitation and at discharge. We also recorded length of acute and rehabilitation stay and discharge destination.
Statistics: Student's T test for paired samples, McNemar's chi-square test.
Results: Patients with complications at admission suffered more often from a traumatic lesions. The functional status at admission and discharge of the patients without complications was significantly better than the functional status of patients with complications (Spinal Cord Independence Measure mean difference between the two groups 5.7 (CI 2.8-8.5) at admission, and 10 (CI 5.3-14.7) at discharge). Length of stay was significantly higher in patients with complications. Patients with complications were more often institutionalized than their counterparts (46/161 vs. 20/187, odds ratio 0.4 (CI 0.2-0.7)).
Conclusions: Complications seem to be more frequent in patients with traumatic lesions. The presence of complications has a negative effect on patients' functional status at discharge and length of stay, and it determines a higher risk of being institutionalized.