The influence of age on functional recovery of adults with spinal cord injury or disease after inpatient rehabilitative care: a pilot study

Abstract

The impact of age on functional recovery after spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D) is still unclear. Given this, we sought to examine the potential influence of patient's age on functional recovery following SCI/D. This retrospective cohort study included consecutive adults with SCI/D admitted to a tertiary rehabilitation center from January 2003 to April 2004. The main outcome was functional recovery during inpatient rehabilitation. Functional recovery was assessed using the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM). FIM and SCIM mean admission scores were subtracted from mean discharge scores and compared to thresholds for minimal clinically important differences. Potential confounders included gender, mechanism of SCI/D, level, and severity of SCI/D. There were 30 patients (11 females, 19 males; ages 30-83 years) with traumatic (n = 11) or non-traumatic SCI/D (n = 19). Mean baseline SCIM and FIM scores were 55.1 ± 4.3 and 82.7 ± 3.6, respectively. After a mean follow-up time of 71 days, patients achieved a mean SCIM of 70.6 ± 4.2 and mean FIM score of 107.3 ± 2.8. SCIM scores were not associated with age in the analyses either using univariate analysis (p = 0.137) or regression analysis (p = 0.215). FIM scores were not associated with age either using univariate analysis (p = 0.266) or regression analysis (p = 0.551). Our results indicate that age is not associated with functional recovery after rehabilitation for SCI/D. Clinicians and allied health professionals should have a greater awareness of the potential of adult patients with SCI/D to achieve functional recovery regardless of age.