Abstract
The purpose of the study was to analyse on pain following traumatic spinal cord injury, its prevalence, the types of pain present, the common treatments used and their perceived effectiveness in the management of these reported pain types. A cross sectional study was carried out at St Giles Rehabilitation Centre and from members of the Spinal Injuries Association of Zimbabwe (SIAZ). A researcher-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 24 participants with traumatic spinal cord injury. The questionnaire elicited information on demographic data, pain characteristics and the perceived effectiveness of the common treatments used. Among the 24 participants in the study, 17 were males (70.8%) and 7 were females (29.2%). Pain prevalence was 79.2% among the study participants and approximately a fifth (21.03%) of all participants rated their pain as severe. Eight (33.3%) of the participants had neuropathic pain while 11 (45.8%) had both nociceptive and neuropathic pain types. However, no association was found between sex, age, time post injury when tested against the presence of pain (p > 0.05). Weather changes aggravated almost every type of pain reported. Both pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods were used to manage the pain but their perceived effectiveness was rated as low. The majority of the traumatic spinal cord injured people experienced some pain and this pain was severe in a fifth of all participants. Pain significantly affected their quality of life. Physiotherapists and other medical professionals need to be aware of this and should employ pain reducing modalities and empathy when dealing with these patients.
Highlights
In the world, the estimated annual incidences of spinal cord injuries vary from 10.4 to 83 cases per million of people with 33 years being the mean age of sustaining these injuries [1]
The purpose of the study was to analyse on pain following traumatic spinal cord injury, its prevalence, the types of pain present, the common treatments used and their perceived effectiveness in the management of these reported pain types
In a study carried out in Zimbabwe from 1988 to 1994 the major causes of traumatic spinal cord injury especially among males aged between 20 and 40 years were road traffic accidents (50%), assaults (11%), falls from trees (11%), off bikes (4%), off scotch carts (2%), and gunshot (4%) while 18% were of undetermined causes [3]
Summary
The estimated annual incidences of spinal cord injuries vary from 10.4 to 83 cases per million of people with 33 years being the mean age of sustaining these injuries [1]. Traumatic spinal cord injury is reported to occur primarily in young adults aged between 16 and 30 years of which approximately 80% of them are males [2]. In a study carried out in Zimbabwe from 1988 to 1994 the major causes of traumatic spinal cord injury especially among males aged between 20 and 40 years were road traffic accidents (50%), assaults (11%), falls from trees (11%), off bikes (4%), off scotch carts (2%), and gunshot (4%) while 18% were of undetermined causes [3]. Since there is inadequate government support in most developing countries, they are left to sustain themselves at a great emotional and financial cost
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