Retrospective trends in length of stay and bowel management at discharge from inpatient rehabilitation among individuals with spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Retrospective observational cohort study.

Objectives: To describe the trend in length of stay (LOS) and its association with the rate of individuals needing total assistance with bowel management upon discharge from inpatient spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation facilities.

Setting: Participants enrolled in the National Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (NSCIMS) database.

Methods: The NSCIMS database was used to obtain bowel management characteristics from individuals (n = 15,975) aged 15 years or older discharged from inpatient rehabilitation facilities between 1988 and 2016 with known demographic factors and LOS. Levels of bowel management were defined from the functional independence measure (FIM) based on the level of assistance required to complete a bowel program. To control for changes in participant population and injury characteristics over the study period, the inverse probability of treatment weight (IPTW) technique was used. Linear and logistic regressions and the Spearman correlation coefficient were used for statistical analyses.

Results: The LOS significantly decreased more than ¾ of a day on average each year from 1988 (LOS: 83.16 days) to 2016 (LOS: 50.53 days). Concurrently, the odds of needing total assistance in bowel management at discharge increased 4.1% each year. The correlation between these trends was moderate (-0.63). Association analyses yielded that a 1-day decrease in average LOS was associated with a 0.53% increase in those needing total assistance for bowel management at discharge.

Conclusion: Over the years, as inpatient rehabilitation LOS decreased, rates of those needing total assistance for bowel management at discharge increased.