Evaluatie van de interdisciplinaire nazorgpoli voor mensen met een dwarslaesie binnen de revalidatie

Objective: Secondary health conditions are common in people with spinal cord injury. To date, little is known about the effectiveness of long-term follow-up care in preventing SHCs. The objective of this study is to explore the therapeutic content of an interdisciplinary follow-up clinic by 1] retrospective analyses of the recommendations given to the participants and the measurements taken during the interdisciplinary follow-up clinic and 2] a prospective analysis of the interdisciplinary follow-up clinic after a revision used methods (introduction of questionnaire on beforehand, less disciplines involved, and standardization of the letter to general practitioner) .
Study design: 1] Explorative retrospective cohort study 2] Explorative prospective cohort study
Study population: All people with spinal cord injury that participate in the interdisciplinary follow-up clinic of the Sint Maartenskliniek, from 2012 till 2022. The retrospective study includes all people from 2012 till October 2020, the prospective study includes all people from October 2020 till October 2022. Only people older than 18 years will be considered for inclusion.
Main study parameters/endpoints: Information about the treatment plan, as formulated in the letter to the general practitioner, will be retrieved from the medical records. In case of multiple visits, every next visit will used to evaluate if the recommendations were followed by the participant, if the underlying problem was solved and if not if there was a new recommendation for this persisting problem.
Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: 1] Because of the retrospective nature of this study using anonymized data the burden or risk for the participants is estimated as zilch. 2] for the prospective study people are asked to fill out a short questionnaire, with three questions after their visit, about their experience and if they have suggestions for improvement. The burden is very limited, the risk zilch.

Participating in the follow-up care will prevent secondary health conditions

During all visits to the interdisciplinary follow-up clinic from January 2012 till October 2022 participants demographics (sex, age), SCI characteristics (level and completeness of injury, time since injury) and the presence of pressure sores or wounds will be described in the letter to the general practitioner and will be used for the analysis. Further the team’s recommendations will be retrieved from the letter to the general practitioner, and will be divided into 13 different categories; a) physical problems: Pain, spasms, skin problems, bowel problems/management, bladder problems/management, respiratory problems, medical intercurrent (all other medical problems not covered by the previous); and b) other problems: Splints, seating advice (position in wheelchair), functioning (transfers, standing, arm functioning), devices, social issues and psychological problems.
And the same time all participants will be weighted and if their spinal cord injury is above C6 respiratory function is determined, with a standardized spirometer.