Community Reintegration in Rehabilitated South Indian Persons With Spinal Cord Injury

Samuelkamaleshkumar S, Radhika S, Cherian B, Elango A, Winrose W, Suhany BT, Prakash MH. Community reintegration in rehabilitated South Indian persons with spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2010;91:1117-21. Objectives: To explore community reintegration in rehabilitated South Indian persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to compare the level of community reintegration based on demographic variables. Design: Survey. Setting: Rehabilitation center of a tertiary care university teaching hospital. Participants: Community-dwelling persons with SCI (N=104). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART). Results: The mean scores for each CHART domain were physical independence 98 +/- 5, social integration 96 +/- 11, cognitive independence 92 +/- 17, occupation 70 +/- 34, mobility 65 +/- 18, and economic self sufficiency 53 +/- 40. Demographic variables showed no statistically significant difference with any of the CHART domains except for age and mobility, level of education, and social integration. Conclusions: Persons with SCI in rural South India who have completed comprehensive, mostly self-financed, rehabilitation with an emphasis on achieving functional ambulation, family support, and self-employment and who attend a regular annual follow-up show a high level of community reintegration in physical independence, social integration, and cognitive independence. CHART scores in the domains of occupation, mobility, and economic self-sufficiency showed lower levels of community reintegration.