Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T06:22:09.133Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Spinal cord injury

from Medical topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Paul Kennedy
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Paul Kennedy
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
Get access

Summary

Aetiology, incidence and prevalence

The successful rehabilitation and community reintegration of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) has only occurred in the past 60 years. Until rehabilitation was pioneered by Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville in 1944, 90% of persons with a spinal cord injury died within the first year. Now, most industrialized economies provide comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation care for people with traumatic and non-traumatic injuries. Almost half (47%) of traumatic spinal cord injuries are caused by road traffic accidents (see ‘Road traffic accidents’). Domestic and industrial falls are the cause of 27%, and between 15 and 20% are from sporting injuries. In the UK, 5% are caused by self-harm and 0.5% from acts of violence. In the USA, 15% of injuries are caused by criminal assault (Duff & Kennedy, 2003; Go et al., 1995). Causes of non-traumatic injuries include infective diseases, ischaemic insults, neoplastic disorders and multiple sclerosis (see also ‘Multiple sclerosis’ and ‘Stroke’).

There are four males for every one female spinal cord injury. The mean age is 28 and the mode is 19. The annual incidence of spinal cord injury in the UK, like most other European countries, is between 10 and 15 per million; in the USA it is thought to be between 30 and 40 and in Japan, 27 per million. There are an estimated 40 000 people in the UK and 200 000 in the USA with spinal cord injury.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 892 - 895
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Annon, J. S. (1974). The behavioural treatment of sexual problems, Vol. 1. Honolulu: Enabling Systems Inc.
Berry, C. & Kennedy, P. (2003). A psychometric analysis of the needs assessment checklist (NAC). Spinal Cord, 41, 490–501.Google Scholar
Bombardier, C. H. (1992). Coping with spinal cord injury: a longitudinal pilot study. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Convention in Toronto.
Craig, A. R., Hancock, K., Chang, E. & Dickson, H. G. (1998). Immunizing against depression and anxiety after spinal cord injury. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 79, 375–7.Google Scholar
Crewe, N. M. & Krause, J. S. (1987). Spinal cord injury: psychological aspects. In Caplan, B. (Ed.). Rehabilitation psychology (pp. 3–33). Baltimore, MD: Aspen.
Crewe, N. M. & Krause, J. S. (1992). Marital status and adjustment to spinal cord injury. Journal of the American Paraplegia Society, 15, 14–18.Google Scholar
Crewe, N. M., Athelston, G. P. & Krumberger, J. (1979). Spinal cord injury: a comparison of pre-injury and post-injury marriages. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 60, 252–6.Google Scholar
Vivo, M. J., Black, K. J., Richard, J. & Stover, S. L. (1991). Suicide following a spinal cord injury. Paraplegia, 29, 620–7.Google Scholar
De Vivo, M. J. & Stover, S. L. (1995). Long-term survival and causes of death. In Stover, S. L., DeLisa, J. A. & Whiteneck, G. G. (Eds.). Spinal cord injury: clinical outcomes from the model systems. Baltimore, MD: Aspen.
Duff, J. & Kennedy, P. (2003). Chapter 14: spinal cord injury. In Llewelyn, S. & Kennedy, P. (Eds.). Handbook of clinical health psychology (pp. 251–78). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Duff, J., Evans, M. & Kennedy, P. (2004). Goal planning: a retrospective audit of rehabilitation process and outcome. Clinical Rehabilitation, 18, 275–86.Google Scholar
Elliott, T. R. & Frank, R. G. (1996). Depression following spinal cord injury. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 77, 816–23.Google Scholar
Elliott, T. R. & Kennedy, P. (2004). Treatment of depression following spinal cord injury: an evidence-based review. Rehabilitation Psychology, 49, 134–9.Google Scholar
Frank, R. G. & Elliott, T. R. (1989). Spinal cord injury and health locus of control beliefs. Paraplegia, 27, 250–6.Google Scholar
Galvin, L. R. & Godfrey, H. P. D. (2001). The impact of coping on emotional adjustment to spinal cord injury (SCI): review of the literature and application of a stress appraisal and coping formulation. Spinal Cord, 39, 615–27.Google Scholar
Go, B. K., De Vivo, N. J. & Richards, J. S. (1995). The epidemiology of spinal cord injury. In Stover, S. L., DeLisa, J. L. & Whiteneck, G. G. (Eds.). Spinal cord injury: clinical outcomes from the model systems (pp. 21–54). Gaithersburg, MA: Aspen Publishers.
Keith, R. A. & Lipsey, M. W. (1993). The role of theory and rehabilitation assessment, treatment and outcomes. In Glueckauf, R. L., Sechrest, L. B., Bond, G. R. & McDonell, E. C. (Eds.). Improving assessment in rehabilitation in health (pp. 33–60). California: Sage.
Kennedy, P. (1991). Counselling with spinal cord injured people. In Davids, H. & Fallowfield, L. (Eds.). Counselling and communication in healthcare. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Kennedy, P., Duff, J., Evans, M. & Beedie, A. (2003). Coping effectiveness training reduces depression and anxiety following traumatic spinal cord injuries. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 42, 41–52.Google Scholar
Kennedy, P., Marsh, N., Lowe, R.et al. (2000). A longitudinal analysis of psychological impact and coping strategies following spinal cord injury. British Journal of health Psychology, 5, 157–72.Google Scholar
Kennedy, P. & Pearce, N. (1993). Goal planning, needs assessment and advocacy. Journal of Health Services Management, 89, 17–24.Google Scholar
Kennedy, P. & Rogers, B. (2000). A qualitative analysis of reported coping in a community sample of people with spinal cord injuries: the first year post discharge. SCI Psychosocial Process, 13, 1, 44–9, 63.Google Scholar
King, C. & Kennedy, P. (1999). Coping effectiveness training for people with spinal cord injury: preliminary results of a controlled trial. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 5–14.Google Scholar
Krause, J. S. & Crewe, N. M. (1990). Long term prediction of self-reported problems following spinal cord injury. Paraplegia, 28, 186–202.Google Scholar
Krause, J. S. & Crewe, N. M. (1991). Chronological age, time since injury and time of measurement: effect on adjustment after spinal cord injury. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 72, 91–100.Google Scholar
Kreuter, M. (2000). Spinal cord injury and partner relationships. Spinal Cord, 38, 2–6.Google Scholar
Lazarus, R. S. & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.
Morris, J. (1992). Psychological and sociological aspects of patients with spinal injuries. In Frankel, H L. (Ed.). Handbook of clinical neurology: spinal cord trauma, Vol. 61. London: Elsevier Science.
Norris-Baker, C., Stephens, M. A., Rintala, M. A. & Willens, E. P. (1981). Patient behaviour as a predictor of outcomes in spinal cord injury. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 62, 602–8.Google Scholar
Reidy, K., Caplan, B. & Shawaryn, M. (1991). Coping strategies following spinal cord injury: accommodation to trauma and disability. Presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, Washington, DC.
Siosteen, A., Lundqvist, C., Blomstrand, C., Sullivan, L. & Sullivan, M. (1990). Sexual ability, activity, attitudes and satisfaction as part of adjustment in spinal cord injured subjects. Paraplegia, 28, 285–95.Google Scholar
Tirch, D. D. & Radnitz, C. L. (2000). Spinal cord injury. In Radnitz, C. L. (Ed.). Cognitive behaviour therapy for persons with disabilities. New Jersey: Jason Ironson Inc.
Trieschmann, R. B. (1988). Spinal cord injuries: psychological, social and vocational rehabilitation. Scottsdale, AZ: Demos.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×