Clinical Depression After Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

This capstone project explores clinical depression after a spinal cord injury. Research shows that up to forty-four percent of spinal cord injury patients experience depression at some point after their injury, negatively affecting both the short as well as the long-term rehabilitation process. Patients with spinal cord injuries that experience depression have longer inpatient rehabilitation stays, lower level of independence following discharge, decreased compliance with self-care needs, increased mortality and morbidity, greater medical expenses as well as increased risk of suicide. Furthermore, depressed spinal cord injury patients are likely to perform activities of daily living and have increased occurrence of secondary complications such as infections and loss of skin integrity. This capstone project is taking place at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan - Spinal Cord Injury Unit and specifically analyzes the association between factors such as pain, lack of mobility as well as ones coping strategies and their contribution to depression after a spinal cord injury. The project is to be executed by the Spinal Cord Injury Unit registered nurses by conducting thirty-minute patient specific health teachings through the use of a training manual and other teaching materials. The proj ect also provides the patients and their caregivers with materials that focus on prevention of depression by addressing of the most common causes of depression which is pain.