Assessing the Functionality of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury in Daily Living Activities

Abstract

Objective: Apply Barthel’s index to an assessment of persons with spinal cord injury, hospitalized and at home, by comparing conditions of functionality in the performance of routine activities involved in daily living. Material and Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional study was done with 62 persons, hospitalized and at home.  The data were collected between January and May 2010 using a form with the variables of interest to the study. Predictive analytics software was used with the Mann - Whitney and Kruskal - Wallis tests. Results: The mean age was 37.5 with a standard deviation of ± 13.74.  As for daily activities, 79% of the participants were dependent in bathing, 59 % in dressing and 91% when using the toilet. Eighty-one percent (81%) were bowel incontinent, 95 % experienced disability in transference; 94% required assistance for activity involving mobility, and 94.1 % of those hospitalized had disability in using stairs with a wheel chair as opposed to 78.5 % at home. The analysis of the final Barthel score yielded an average of 48.4% with a standard deviation of ± 32.62. Conclusions: There is a marked significance with respect to the degree of dependence among hospitalized participants compared to those at home.