[Assessment of functional abilities, handicap and quality of life in patients with spinal cord injuries]

Abstract

Objectives: A literature review of the methods of evaluating function, handicap and quality of life in patients with spinal cord injuries.

Methods: The literature review was based on the available French and English articles published since 1990 in 3 databases: MEDLINE, Pascal and Embase.

Results: The literature is dominated by descriptions of tools for evaluating functional limitations in motor deficiencies. Such descriptions involve the validation of generic tools for patients with spinal cord injuries or of specific tools during the evaluation of a particular intervention such as surgery of the tetraplegic hand or adaptation of technical help.

Conclusion: The tools to assess patients with spinal-cord injuries are sufficiently numerous and varied to allow us to evaluate physical, functional and psychosocial dimensions. Rigorous methodological validation is continuously at the base of those proposed tools and thus reinforces our choice to use them. Unfortunately, few evaluation tools for patients with spinal cord injuries have been published, translated into French and validated.