TY - JOUR
T1 - Needs, priorities, and attitudes of individuals with spinal cord injury toward nerve stimulation devices for bladder and bowel function
T2 - a survey
AU - Bourbeau, Dennis
AU - Bolon, Abby
AU - Creasey, Graham
AU - Dai, Wei
AU - Fertig, Bill
AU - French, Jennifer
AU - Jeji, Tara
AU - Kaiser, Anita
AU - Kouznetsov, Roman
AU - Rabchevsky, Alexander
AU - Santacruz, Bruno Gallo
AU - Sun, Jiayang
AU - Thor, Karl B.
AU - Wheeler, Tracey
AU - Wierbicky, Jane
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply.
PY - 2020/11/1
Y1 - 2020/11/1
N2 - Study design: Survey. Objectives: To investigate the needs and priorities of people with spinal cord injury for managing neurogenic bladder and bowel function and to determine their willingness to adopt neuromodulation interventions for these functions. Methods: Anonymous online survey. It was advertised by word-of-mouth by community influencers and social media, and by advertisement in newsletters of advocacy groups. Results: Responses from 370 individuals (27% female, 73% male) were included. Bladder emptying without catheters was the top priority for restoring bladder function, and maintaining fecal continence was the top priority for restoring bowel function. The biggest concerns regarding external stimulation systems were wearing a device with wires connecting to electrodes on the skin and having to don and doff the system daily as needed. The biggest concerns for implanted systems were the chances of experiencing problems with the implant that required a revision surgery or surgical removal of the whole system. Respondents were willing to accept an external (61%) or implanted (41%) device to achieve improved bladder or bowel function. Conclusions: Bladder and bowel dysfunction remain important unmet challenges for individuals living with SCI who answered our survey. These individuals are willing to accept some potential risks of nerve stimulation approaches given potential benefits. Additional consumer input is critical for guiding both research and translation to clinical use and personalized medicine.
AB - Study design: Survey. Objectives: To investigate the needs and priorities of people with spinal cord injury for managing neurogenic bladder and bowel function and to determine their willingness to adopt neuromodulation interventions for these functions. Methods: Anonymous online survey. It was advertised by word-of-mouth by community influencers and social media, and by advertisement in newsletters of advocacy groups. Results: Responses from 370 individuals (27% female, 73% male) were included. Bladder emptying without catheters was the top priority for restoring bladder function, and maintaining fecal continence was the top priority for restoring bowel function. The biggest concerns regarding external stimulation systems were wearing a device with wires connecting to electrodes on the skin and having to don and doff the system daily as needed. The biggest concerns for implanted systems were the chances of experiencing problems with the implant that required a revision surgery or surgical removal of the whole system. Respondents were willing to accept an external (61%) or implanted (41%) device to achieve improved bladder or bowel function. Conclusions: Bladder and bowel dysfunction remain important unmet challenges for individuals living with SCI who answered our survey. These individuals are willing to accept some potential risks of nerve stimulation approaches given potential benefits. Additional consumer input is critical for guiding both research and translation to clinical use and personalized medicine.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41393-020-00545-w
DO - 10.1038/s41393-020-00545-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 32895475
AN - SCOPUS:85090312305
SN - 1362-4393
VL - 58
SP - 1216
EP - 1226
JO - Spinal Cord
JF - Spinal Cord
IS - 11
ER -