A causal model of rehabilitation resource use for subjects with spinal cord injury in Taiwan

Objective: The aim of this study was to construct an adequate causal model of rehabilitation resource use based on a Taiwanese rehabilitation database system. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of data from a Taiwanese rehabilitation database system. Subjects: Records from 68 patients (51 men, 17 women; mean age 43 years) with spinal cord injuries were used in the study. Methods: Path analysis was used to identify a better-fitted model for patients with spinal cord injuries. Results and conclusion: The results showed that the final causal model fits the data well. The findings also reveal that activities of daily living have the largest total effect on length of stay, whereas subjective well-being and gender have indirect effects on length of stay, mediating through activities of daily living and subjective well-being, respectively. The impact of subjective well-being on the length of stay in hospital for patients with spinal cord injuries deserves special attention, as the quality of life issue plays a vital role in rehabilitation of these patients. The influence of subjective well-being on activities of daily living suggests that therapy targeted at improving patients' subjective well-being is necessary. Additionally, the impact of sexual dysfunction of patients with spinal cord injuries should be investigated further.