Inception cohort of the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study (SwiSCI): Design, participant characteristics, response rates and non-response.
Christine Fekete, Beat Gurtner, Simon Kunz and 7 others
PMID 33569608WHAT IT FOUND
This cohort describes newly injured spinal cord patients but has a 47.5% response rate.
Participants were younger, male, and more independent than non-responders. Treat findings as representative of those who engaged, not all patients.
Key findings
01The overall response rate for eligible patients was 47.5%, indicating less than half of the target population participated.
02Participants were significantly younger and had higher functional independence scores at admission compared to non-responders.
03Males, younger persons, those with traumatic injuries, and those with higher initial functional independence were more likely to participate.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The low response rate (47.5%) means the sample is not fully representative of all incident SCI cases in Switzerland. Participants were younger, male, and more functionally independent than non-responders, introducing a selection bias. Patients who died before admission or those treated in non-specialized centres were excluded. One-fifth of non-responders refused any data use, limiting the ability to fully assess non-response bias. High rates of missing data for psychological measures (HADS-D) at admission and discharge reduce the reliability of findings in that domain.
Declared interests
The SwiSCI Study Center is located at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil. The study is supported by the four specialized SCI rehabilitation centres in Switzerland. No specific commercial conflicts of interest are detailed in the provided text, but the involvement of rehabilitation centres and a dedicated research center indicates institutional backing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this cohort represents all newly injured spinal cord patients. The participants were younger, more independent, and more often male than those who did not respond, so findings may not apply to patients with severe impairment or different demographics.