TY - JOUR A1 - Hodel, Jsabel A1 - Ehrmann, Cristina A1 - Scheel-Sailer, Anke A1 - Stucki, Gerold A1 - Bickenbach, Jerome E. A1 - Prodinger, Birgit T1 - Identification of Classes of Functioning Trajectories and Their Predictors in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury Attending Initial Rehabilitation in Switzerland JF - Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation N2 - Objectives: To identify classes of functioning trajectories in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) undergoing initial rehabilitation after injury and to examine potential predictors of class membership to inform clinical planning of the rehabilitation process. Design: Longitudinal analysis of the individual's rehabilitation stay using data from the Inception Cohort of the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study (SwiSCI). Setting: Initial rehabilitation in specialized centers in Switzerland. Participants: Individuals with newly acquired SCI (N=748; mean age, 54.66±18.38y) who completed initial rehabilitation between May 2013 and September 2019. The cohort was primarily composed of men (67.51%), persons with paraplegia (56.15%), incomplete injuries (67.51%), and traumatic etiologies (55.48%). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Functioning was operationalized with the interval-based sum score of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure version III (SCIM III). For each individual, the SCIM III sum score was assessed at up to 4 time points during rehabilitation stay. The corresponding time of assessment was recorded by the difference in days between the SCIM III assessment and admission to the rehabilitation program. Results: Latent process mixed model analysis revealed 4 classes of functioning trajectories within the present sample. Class-specific predicted mean functioning trajectories describe stable high functioning (n=307; 41.04%), early functioning improvement (n=39; 5.21%), moderate functioning improvement (n=287; 38.37%), and slow functioning improvement (n=115; 15.37%), respectively. Out of 12 tested factors, multinomial logistic regression showed that age, injury level, injury severity, and ventilator assistance were robust predictors that could distinguish between identified classes of functioning trajectories in the present sample. Conclusions: The current study establishes a foundation for future research on the course of functioning of individuals with SCI in initial rehabilitation by identifying classes of functioning trajectories. This supports the development of specifically tailored rehabilitation programs and prediction models, which can be integrated into clinical rehabilitation planning. KW - Latent class analysis KW - Logistic models KW - Longitudinal studies KW - Observational study KW - Rehabilitation KW - Spinal cord injuries Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arrct.2021.100121 VL - 3 IS - 2 SP - 100121 ER -