Delayed entry into employment after spinal cord injury: factors related to time to first job

Study design: Data were cross-sectional and were collected by survey methodology. Objectives: To investigate factors predictive of length of time between spinal cord injury (SCI) onset and start of first post-injury employment and full-time employment. Setting: A large specialty hospital in the Southeastern United States, with additional participant samples from two hospitals in the Midwestern United States. Methods: Participants were identified from patient records at the participating hospitals. They met the following three exclusion/inclusion criteria: traumatic SCI, at least 18 years of age at time of survey, and a minimum of 1-year after SCI. Outcome measures were years from injury onset to beginning first post-injury job and years to first full-time post-injury job. Two separate models were developed for each outcome using a regression analysis. All those 10 years and more post-injury were censored (that is eliminated) in the analysis. Results: Having a higher level of education, less severe injury, being Caucasian, and returning to the pre-injury employer were associated with a shorter interval to initiation of employment with 10-year censoring. In addition to these variables, gender was associated with time to return to first full-time job. Conclusion: The findings underscore the importance of using pre-injury education and opportunities to return to the pre-injury employer to minimize the length of time until initiation of employment after SCI. Spinal Cord (2010) 48, 487-491; doi: 10.1038/sc.2009.157; published online 24 November 2009