Epidemiological profile of spinal cord injury in Brazil

Abstract

Objective:

To identify and analyze the biosocioeconomic profile associated with the occupation and education of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) from Brazil.

Design:

Analytical, quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional.

Participants:

Sample composed of 618 Brazilian adults with SCI and access to the internet.

Setting:

Community-based, Brazil.

Methods:

An online form was developed and publicized on Brazilian social media to voluntarily register for participation in research. Pearson's Chi-squared test was used to analyze the association between categorical variables and the Kruskal Wallis test was used for comparisons and adjusted Odds Ratio with a 95% Confidence Interval.

Results:

Among the 618 participants, 68.9% were men, with mean age of 38.04 years (SD = 9.85); 58.7% were people with paraplegia and most injuries were traumatic (78.5%), most caused by road traffic accidents (40.8%) and weapons (17.5%). The majority were graduates or post-graduates (49.5%) and received an income of up to US$ 749.58 (55.1%); 70.9% of the participants were beneficiaries of social welfare (63.6%) or unemployed (7.3%). There was a reduction in the employment rate from 91.3% to 15.2% after SCI. An association was found between education and current occupation (P ≥ 0.001). Participants with higher education had higher odds (7.48) to being employed relative to those with elementary education.

Conclusion:

A serious employment situation after SCI was found, with high unemployment and dependence on social welfare. This shows the need for investment in public policies for the rehabilitation, focused on participation, return to the labor market, and ending dependence on social welfare.

Keywords:

• Spinal cord injury
• Rehabilitation
• Epidemiological profile

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the participants of the survey for their time and effort spent in responding to the questions. We further thank to the statistician Jonas Bodini Alonso. We further thank to the statistician Jonas Bodini Alonso and Neurorehab research group.

Statement of ethics

The study was approved by the ethics committees of the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing at University of São Paulo, under protocol n° CAAE: 07814219.6.0000.5393.

Disclaimer statements

Contributors None.

Conflicts of interest Authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The study was self financed, supported by the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing at University of São Paulo.