International spinal cord injury socio-demographic basic data set (version 1.0)

STUDY DESIGN: Consensus based on the literature.

OBJECTIVE: Create an International Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Socio-Demographic Basic Data Set (Version 1.0).

SETTING: International.

METHODS: The development included an iterative process where the authors reviewed existing variables containing socio-demographic variables and created a first dataset draft, which was followed by several revisions through email communications. In addition, the work was conducted in parallel with a similar endeavour within the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke SCI Common Data Elements project in the United States. Subsequently, harmonization between the two projects was sought. Following this, a review process was initiated, including The International SCI Data Sets Committee, the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Board, and the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) Scientific and Executive Committees, and then by publishing on the respective websites for membership feedback. The draft was sent to about 40 national and international organizations and several interested individuals for feedback. All review comments were discussed in the working group and responded to before the final draft was developed, and finally approved by ASIA Board and the ISCoS Scientific and Executive committees.

RESULTS: The final International SCI Socio-Demographic Basic Data Set includes the following variables: Date of data collection, Marital status, Household member count, Years of formal education, and Primary occupation.

CONCLUSION: The International SCI Socio-Demographic Basic Data Set will facilitate uniform data collection and reporting of socio-demographic information at the time of injury as well as at post-injury follow-ups to facilitate the evaluation and comparisons across studies.