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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: To explore the attitudes of healthcare providers who treat spinal cord injury (SCI) patients and examine whether there are differences between Emergency Medicine (EM) and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) physicians in their judgments about quality of life (QOL) after SCI.
DESIGN: Questionnaire survey of PMR and EM physicians. PARTICIPANTS: Board-certified PMR and EM physicians listed in the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and the American College of Emergency Physicians and/or faculty from academic PMR and EM departments in the United States and Canada. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Evaluating various aspects of perceived QOL if the physician hypothetically sustained an SCI, including impact on leisure activities, social relationships, happiness, meaningful work, satisfying sexual relationships and overall QOL.
RESULTS: A total of 91 EM physicians and 89 PMR physicians completed the surveys. PMR physicians were more likely to agree that they would have a better QOL compared to EM physicians, regardless of the level of injury or aspect of life (p <.01 in all cases). Female physicians, regardless of specialty, were more likely to choose a lower level at which they would choose to die, rather than live, if they sustained an SCI (p =.03). Physicians in both groups were more likely to disagree that they would have a high QOL at a lower level of injury if they disagreed at a higher level of injury (p ≤.02).
CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of specialty, PMR and EM physicians have their own personal perceptions of QOL with SCI. PMR physicians tend to feel that they would have a higher QOL with an SCI compared to EM physicians and likely have a more optimistic view of SCI. Patient care may be improved by inter-disciplinary discussion, as evidenced by the disparity exhibited by these two specialties caring for the same patient population.
Language: en |