None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a life-changing severe injury resulting in substantial physical/psychological impairment. While significant research has investigated adjustment following SCI, very little is known about how co-morbid cognitive impairment impacts adjustment. It is believed around 50% of people with an SCI may have significant levels of cognitive impairment. Therefore, the major objective of this proposal is to (1) provide conclusive information about the extent and causes of cognitive impairment in adults with SCI; (2) to improve the clinical skills of rehabilitation teams to detect and manage cognitive impairment during the rehabilitation phase by developing multidisciplinary guidelines and strategies for use in the SCI rehabilitation phase, targeted at those with cognitive impairment.
Interventions
This is an observational and longitudinal study. A validated cognitive test standardised for SCI, known as Neuropsychiatry Unit Cognitive Assessment Tool (NUCOG) will be used to determine presence and severity of cognitive impairment. Based on the NUCOG assessment score, participants will be allocated to either those with cognitive impairment (cog-imp) group or those without cognitive impairment (ncog-imp) group.
Participants allocated to cog-imp group will be assessed over 1 year at three dif
This is an observational and longitudinal study. A validated cognitive test standardised for SCI, known as Neuropsychiatry Unit Cognitive Assessment Tool (NUCOG) will be used to determine presence and severity of cognitive impairment. Based on the NUCOG assessment score, participants will be allocated to either those with cognitive impairment (cog-imp) group or those without cognitive impairment (ncog-imp) group. Participants allocated to cog-imp group will be assessed over 1 year at three different timepoints. Three assessment visits are - at admission to rehabilitation; at discharge from rehabilitation; and 12-month post injury. Each assessment visit will involve the following components: 1. A 35 minutes face-to-face cognitive assessment during which participants will be evaluated for their cognitive capacity; 2. A 50 minutes online bio-psychosocial assessment collecting measures like sociodemographic factors, injury-related factors, quality of life, pain, and psychosocial variables such as social support and depressive mood (further details in outcome section). 3. A 20-minute autonomic assessment to test autonomic functioning and imbalance between sympathetic and para- sympathetic nervous system.
Sponsors
The University of Sydney
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
17 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
A participant will be included if he/she: a. is 17 years or older and = 80 years; b. has an acute SCI (i.e. less than 48 hours SCI), due to any cause (traumatic or non-traumatic); c. admitted to rehabilitation at one of the participating sites and who will complete rehabilitation and be discharged into the community; d. has competency in English.
Exclusion criteria
A participant will be excluded if he/she has: a. any clinically significant medical condition that would compromise participation in the study such as severe dementia (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease) or major psychiatric disorders (e.g. psychotic disorders) b. a severe co-morbid traumatic brain injury such that they cannot understand instructions or assessments.
Outcome results
None listed