Interventions and cognitive functioning in adults with traumatic spinal cord injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: This research synthesized scientific evidence on the impact of interventions for adults with traumatic spinal cord injury on cognition, to understand if current intervention approaches are appropriate in light of the risk of post-injury cognitive impairments. Method: Medline, Central, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO and PubMed were searched for intervention in persons with SCI assessing cognition pre- and post-intervention. Study quality was completed using the National Institutes of Health quality assessment tools. Results were grouped by type of intervention. The meta-analysis involved calculation of pooled effect sizes for interventions utilizing the same cognitive measure. Results: Eleven studies of moderate quality discussed drug therapy, transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation, diet modification and dietary supplements, and inpatient rehabilitation. Some aspects of cognition were negatively affected by drugs while diet modification and supplement use, and transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation showed no evidence of a difference in cognitive scores when compared with no intervention. Inpatient rehabilitation revealed a small but beneficial effect, when results of seven studies were pooled. Conclusion: Evidence on the effects of interventions on cognitive functioning in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury is sparse and inconclusive, so work in this area is timely. It is valuable to know not only which interventions are effective for improving cognition, but also how other commonly used interventions, intended to treat other injury sequela, can affect cognition. PROSPERO: CRD42018087238.

Automated summary

The study found that there is insufficient and inconclusive scientific evidence on the effectiveness of cognitive interventions for adults with traumatic spinal cord injury, requiring more research to determine effective intervention strategies. Current interventions include drug therapy, nerve stimulation, diet modifications, and inpatient rehabilitation, with the latter showing a small but positive effect.