Modelo predictivo del grado de discapacidad en adultos con lesión medular: resultados desde el WHO-DAS II

Objective: To establish a prediction model of the degree of disability in adults with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI ) based on the use of the WHO-DAS II . Methods: The disability degree was correlated with three variable groups: clinical, sociodemographic and those related with rehabilitation services. A model of multiple linearregression was built to predict disability. 45 people with sciexhibiting diverse etiology, neurological level and completenessparticipated. Patients were older than 18 and they had more than a six-month post-injury. The WHO-DAS II and the ASIA impairment scale(AIS ) were used. Results: Variables that evidenced a significant relationship with disability were the following: occupationalsituation, type of affiliation to the public health care system, injury evolution time, neurological level, partial preservation zone,ais motor and sensory scores and number of clinical complications during the last year. Complications significantly associated todisability were joint pain, urinary infections, intestinal problemsand autonomic disreflexia. None of the variables related to rehabilitation services showed significant association with disability. The disability degree exhibited significant differencesin favor of the groups that received the following services: assistive devices supply and vocational, job or educational counseling. Conclusions: The best prediction disability model inadults with sci with more than six months post-injury was built withvariables of injury evolution time, AIS sensory score and injury-related unemployment.