Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a single administration of an inpatient programme of Active Rehabilitation on the functional performance of people with high spinal cord injury. The study involved 23 men between the ages of 17 and 30 years with tetraplegia due to spinal cord injury in the cervical segment. Group 1 was composed of patients with damage at the level of C6 (n = 22), and Group II consisted of patients with damage at the level of C7 (n = 11). Patients were evaluated immediately before the beginning of the programme (TEST I) and on its completion (TEST II) using the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) scale.Mean SCIM increased from 32.8 to 43.5 in the C6 group, and from 43.7 to 53.9 in the C7 group. Improved SCIM scores were noted in both groups in all of the domains surveyed: self-care, respiration and sphincter management, and indoor and outdoor mobility.A fourteen-day inpatient programme of Active Rehabilitation appeared to have a significant impact on improving functional performance in the patients after spinal cord injury at the C6 and C7 level in all aspects examined, even when the damage had occurred 14-17 months before the treatment began.

Key words:

spinal cord injury, Active Rehabilitation, functional performance, SCIM