Research Information System
Journal of Rheumatology and Medical Rehabilitation, vol.13, no.2, pp.118-121, 2002 (Scopus)
In this study, functional gains of traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injured patients, who were included in a rehabilitation program, were evaluated. Fourteen traumatic, 6 non-traumatic spinal cord injured patients were included in the study. Functional Independence Measure (FIM) was used to determine the functional status and disability. Mean age was 35.86 ± 13.18 years for the traumatic spinal cord injured patients and 44.50 ± 20.07 for the non-traumatic ones. The difference between admission and discharge FIM scores was statistically significant both in traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injured patients (p=0.001 and p<0.05, respectively). FIM gain during rehabilitation period was 49.21 ± 14.55 for the traumatic group and 24.67 ± 20.31 for the non-traumatic, and the difference between groups was statistically significant (p=0.012). Admission FIM scores of traumatic patients were lower than the non-traumatic patients, and discharge FIM scores were not statistically different between two groups. Our results showed that traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injured patients could achieve similar levels of independence.