Quality of Life and Mental Health Improvements with Exoskeleton Use After SCI

An unfortunate reality after spinal cord injury is dependence on a wheelchair for mobility.1 A lifetime of wheelchair use however is associated with a sedentary lifestyle, a decrease in social participation as well as reduced Quality of Life (QoL). Dr. Van Nes and collogues believe that exoskeleton assisted walking in this population contributes to a reduction of secondary health complications as well as an improvement in QoL. The researchers who have published multiple exoskeleton related studies looked into potential effects of short-term training with the ReWalk Personal Exoskeleton on QoL.  21 individuals with chronic SCI completed 24 training sessions within 8 weeks. Despite the short training period patients significantly improved on  the SF-36ww subdomains bodily pain, social functioning, mental health, and general health perception.  

Even in patients with chronic motor complete SCI and a relatively high level of QoL at baseline, a short-term exoskeleton training improved their QoL, pain and satisfaction with bladder management

In the current study, a significant increase in SF-36ww sum score indicates an improvement of QoL after a short-term training period of eight weeks exoskeleton training in chronic complete SCI patients. Four of the eight SF-36ww subdomains significantly improved: bodily pain, social functioning, mental health and general health perception. In addition, improved satisfaction with bladder management was found. There was no improvement in satisfaction with bowel management, lower extremity PROM or spasticity.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10790268.2022.2052502 

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