ORIGINAL RESEARCHUtilization of Complementary and Integrative Health Care by People With Spinal Cord Injury in the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems: A Descriptive Study
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were a convenience sample of people with SCI who had been previously enrolled in the SCIMS and were completing scheduled follow-up interviews. Five SCIMS centers across the US participated in this collaborative study: Craig Hospital, Colorado; Kessler Foundation and Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, New Jersey; The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Illinois; Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts; and Texas Institute on Rehabilitation Research, Texas. Participants were
Participant characteristics
The CIH Survey was offered to 624 SCIMS participants completing their Form II interviews. In total, 411 participants completed the CIH Survey, resulting in a response rate of 65.9%. See fig 1 for a breakdown of participants by CIH use and table 1 for all participant characteristics.
Discussion
Overall, a large number of people with SCI are using CIH approaches, with 80.3% (330) of the sample current or former users of CIH since their injury. Participants who had used CIH before their injury were more likely to have used CIH since their injury. Only 19.7% (81) of the sample had not used CIH since their injury.
Although CIH users in the general population are more likely to be female, live in the Midwest or Western US, be White, have a college or graduate degree, have a higher income,
Conclusions
The key takeaway to these initial findings is twofold. One, the high rate of CIH use in people with SCI warrants observational and focused clinical trials to begin scientifically evaluating safety and efficacy of CIH approaches in this population. Two, because people with SCI have said that they use CIH because “when you create your own holistic health you're in more control,”30(p30) it is also important for rehabilitation clinicians to be aware that their patients may be using 1 or more CIH
Supplier
- a.
SPSS Version 25.0; IBM Corp.
References (30)
- et al.
Complementary and integrative medicine in epilepsy: what patients and physicians perceive
Epilepsy Behav
(2019) - et al.
Integrative medicine in traumatic brain injury
Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am
(2017) Factors associated with risk for subsequent injuries after traumatic spinal cord injury
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
(2004)- et al.
Non-pharmacological pain-relieving therapies in individuals with spinal cord injury: a patient perspective
Complement Ther Med
(2004) Summary of findings tables: presenting the main findings of Cochrane complementary and alternative medicine-related reviews in a transparent and simple tabular format
Glob Adv Health Med
(2012)- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Complementary, alternative, or integrative health: what's in...
- et al.
CDC national health statistics report #12. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults and children: United States, 2007
(2008) - et al.
Trends in the use of complementary health approaches among adults: United States, 2002-2012
(2015) - National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Safe use of complementary health products and practices....
- et al.
Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002
Adv Data
(2004)
Who practices yoga? A systematic review of demographic, health-related, and psychosocial factors associated with yoga practice
J Behav Med
Ischemic stroke patients’ decision-making process in their use of Western medicine and alternative and complementary medicine
Holist Nurs Pract
Complementary medicine for the management of knee and hip osteoarthritis - a patient perspective
Musculoskeletal Care
Complementary and alternative medicine usage by multiple sclerosis patients: results from a prospective clinical study
J Altern Complement Med
A comparison of the effects of reflexology and relaxation on pain in women with multiple sclerosis
J Complement Integr Med
Cited by (1)
Current Research Outcomes From the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems
2022, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (grant no. 90SI5015, Craig Hospital; grant no. 90SI5026, Kessler Foundation; grant no. 90SI5022, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab; grant no. 90SI5021, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital; grant no. 90SI5027, Texas Institute for Rehabilitation Research).
Disclosures: Ross Zafonte serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Myomo, Oxeia Biopharma, ElMINDA and Biodirection. The other authors have nothing to disclose.