Age and spinal cord injury: an emphasis on outcomes among the elderly.

Objectives: Determine the unique effects of age across a variety of outcome domains following spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Cross-sectional; 6132 individuals with traumatic onset SCI in the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) database.

Outcome Measures: Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART), and the Short Form-12 (SF-12).

Interference due to pain following spinal cord injury: important predictors and impact on quality of life.

Two studies were designed to examine important predictors of pain following spinal cord injury (SCI), and the impact of pain on self-reported quality of life (QOL). Pain was defined as "interference in day-to-day activities secondary to pain". In order to determine risk factors associated with the development of pain interference, Study 1 examined the predictive validity of multiple demographic, medical, and QOL variables at year 1 post-SCI to self-reported pain interference 2 years post-injury.

Race: predictor versus proxy variable? Outcomes after spinal cord injury.

Objective: To examine the impact of race on acute, rehabilitation, and long-term outcomes after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Two case control studies (study 1: acute and rehabilitation outcomes, study 2: long-term outcomes) in which white and nonwhite individuals were matched case for case on multiple demographic, medical, and geographic characteristics with the rationale being that a case-control methodology would increase the internal validity of the design, thereby increasing confidence in the assertion that any between-group differences observed may be specifically attributed to race.

Setting: Data drawn from the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems.

Life satisfaction following spinal cord and traumatic brain injury: a comparative study.

The current study was designed to examine the predictive validity of several factors that are common to spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) populations to overall life satisfaction. We examined several demographic and functional predictors (1) within each group separately and (2) using both groups while controlling for unique predictors within groups. Participants included 190 and 57 individuals with SCI and TBI, respectively.

Predictors of life satisfaction: a spinal cord injury cohort study.

Objective: To determine unique demographic, medical, perceived health, and handicap predictors of life satisfaction 2 years after spinal cord injury (SCI), as well as the predictors of change in life satisfaction from year 1 to year 2.

Design: Prospective predictive study performed by using longitudinal data from 18 Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems.

Setting: University physical medicine and rehabilitation department.

Long-term use of gabapentin for treatment of pain after traumatic spinal cord injury.

Objective: To determine the long-term efficacy of gabapentin as a treatment of pain after spinal cord injury.

Design: All patients with traumatic-onset spinal cord injury treated with gabapentin were identified and followed up using a longitudinal observational design with two contact points (6 and 36 months after the trial) using a semi-structured interview. The first follow-up interview attempted to capture all 31 patients placed on therapeutic trial.