Need and use of assistive devices for personal mobility by individuals with spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the provision, use, and unmet need of assistive devices for personal mobility in the Swiss population with spinal cord injury (SCI).

DESIGN

Community survey 2012 of the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study.

PARTICIPANTS

Individuals aged 16 or older with traumatic or non-traumatic SCI residing in Switzerland.

INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable.

OUTCOME MEASURES: Provision, frequency of use, and unmet need (i.e. perceiving the need of a device but it not being provided) of 11 mobility devices were assessed by self-report and analyzed descriptively. Provision of devices was further analyzed by sex, age, SCI etiology, SCI severity, and time since SCI.

RESULTS

Devices reported highest for provision (N = 492; mean age 55.3 ± 15.1 years; 28.9% female) were adapted cars (78.2%) and manual wheelchairs (69.9%). Provision of various devices markedly varied with age and SCI severity (e.g. 34.6% of those aged 76+ had a walking frame compared to 3.1% of those aged 31-45; 50.0% of participants with complete tetraplegia had a power wheelchair compared to 7.6% of those with complete paraplegia). Many devices were mostly used daily (e.g. manual wheelchair) while others were mostly used less frequently (e.g. handbikes). Unmet need was highest for arm braces (53.2% of those in need) and power assisted wheelchairs (47.3%), and lowest for crutches (11.4%) and manual wheelchairs (4.8%).

CONCLUSION

The devices individuals have or use is largely dependent on their age and SCI severity. While most participants have access to basic mobility devices, there is still a considerable degree of unmet need for certain devices.