Evaluation Of Quality Of Life Of Patient Operated On For Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury In Two Reference Hospitals In Bamenda, Cameroon

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a traumatic event that results in disturbances to normal sensory, motor, or autonomic function and ultimately impacts a patient’s physical, psychological, and social well-being. Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating event with negative physiological, psychological, and social consequences for individuals and an economic burden on society In addition to the immediate neurologic effects on motor, sensory, and autonomic functions, individuals are at higher risk of developing complications directly or indirectly which tend to have an influence on quality of life. The goal of this study was to describe the quality of life following surgical management of traumatic spine injuries at 6 months and above.
We conducted a cross sectional study over a period of 4 months from January 2022 to April 2022 in the surgical units of Bamenda Regional Hospital and Mbingo Baptist Hospital. We included patients operated for traumatic spine injury at least 6 months and above, Sampling were consecutive and Quality Of Life (QOL) was determined utilizing the OSWESTRY Disability Index (ODS). Data was obtained on a predefined questionnaire, entered and analyzed using CSPRO and SPSS versions 7.5 and 23 respectively.
We recruited a total of 67 cases, of which 32 were from Mbingo Baptist Hospital (MBH) and 18 were from Bamenda Regional Hospital (BRH). The prevalence of SCI was 1.7 per 100. Male were predominant at 68%, with the sex ratio of 2.1. Our study population mean age was 38±13. 62% of our patients had a good quality. In our study, we found that quality of life associated was associated with a neurologic deficit (OR=0.01, CI=0.002-0.013, P value =0.003), hemodynamic state (OR=0.36, CI=(0.25-0.54, P value =0,99), ASIA score before surgery (OR=5.15, CI=(4.71-132.65, P value =0.008), pain after surgery (OR=7.07, CI=(04.71-12.65, P value =0.06) and the type of spinal cord injury with the (OR=0.13, CI=(0.002-0.43, P value =0.07).
The QOL of patients with SCI revealed that , 62% of our patients had a good quality of life