Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Acute respiratory tract infection visits of veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders: rates, trends, and risk factors.

Smith BM, Evans CT, Kurichi JE, Weaver FM, Patel N, Burns SP. Acute respiratory tract infection visits of veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders: rates, trends, and risk factors. The journal of spinal cord medicine. 2007 Jan 1; 30(4):355-61.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Respiratory complications are a major cause of illness and death in persons with spinal cord injuries and dysfunction (SCIandDs). The objectives of this study were to examine rates of outpatient visits over 5 years for acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs), including pneumonia and influenza (PandI), lower respiratory tract infections (LRIs), and upper respiratory tract infections (URIs), in veterans with SCIandDs and to determine whether individual characteristics were associated with the number of annual visits for each type of ARI. METHODS: This was a longitudinal (fiscal years 1998-2002) study of ARI visits at the Veterans Health Administration (VA) in 18,693 veterans with SCIandDs. To examine the associations between time, patient characteristics, and annual number of ARI visits, we used random effect negative binomial models. RESULTS: Veterans with SCIandDs had a total of 11,113 ARI visits over the 5-year period. There was a slightly decreasing trend for LRI visits over time (P < 0.01) but no significant change for other ARIs over time. There were 30 to 35 pneumonia visits and 21 to 30 acute bronchitis visits per 1,000 SCIandD veterans per year. Older veterans were more likely than younger to have PandI visits and less likely to have URI visits (P < 0.01). Veterans with paraplegia had fewer PandI visits than subjects with tetraplegia (IRR = 0.58; Cl = 0.51-0.67). CONCLUSIONS: Visit rates for ARIs are stable for veterans with SCIandDs. Identifying risk factors associated with ARI visits is an important first step to improve prevention and treatment of ARIs and to improve the health of veterans with SCIandDs.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.