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Profiles of cognitive functioning in chronic spinal cord injury and the role of moderating variables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1997

RACHAEL N. DOWLER
Affiliation:
University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
DEBORAH L. HARRINGTON
Affiliation:
Department of Veterans Affairs, Albuquerque, NM University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
KATHLEEN Y. HAALAND
Affiliation:
Department of Veterans Affairs, Albuquerque, NM University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
REX M. SWANDA
Affiliation:
Department of Veterans Affairs, Albuquerque, NM University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
FRANK FEE
Affiliation:
Drake Center, Inc., Cincinnati, OH
KURT FIEDLER
Affiliation:
Department of Veterans Affairs, Albuquerque, NM University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

Abstract

A traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is accompanied by a documented moderate to severe head injury in significant numbers of SCI patients. In a previous study (Dowler et al., 1995), cognitive deficits were found in 41% of the SCI individuals who were studied with a chronic injury from a traumatic event. The present study investigated whether clinically useful subtypes of normal and impaired cognition could be identified in a chronic (M = 17 years postinjury) SCI sample using a cluster analysis of neuropsychological test performance. A battery of 16 neuropsychological tests was administered to 91 SCI patients and 75 control participants. Composite scores, reflecting performance in different cognitive domains, were derived from a factor analysis of the battery, and these scores were then used in the cluster analysis. A six-cluster solution generated the most distinct and clinically relevant SCI group profiles. Two of the cognitive profiles were characterized by normal functioning in all cognitive domains, but they were distinguished by differences in performance levels. The remaining four SCI groups (60% of the sample) showed clinically significant deficits in one or more cognitive domains, with different groups showing moderate attention and processing speed deficits, mild deficits in processing speed, executive processing difficulties, or moderate memory impairments. Though age and premorbid intellectual ability were strong predictors of the cognitive profiles of some SCI groups, when these factors were controlled, the findings suggested that the patterns of cognitive impairment were likely due to a potential concomitant head injury. (JINS, 1997, 3, 464–472.)

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 The International Neuropsychological Society

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