Spinal cord
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Cross-sectional survey. ⋯ Barriers and facilitators were consistently related to labor force participation, with facilitators more highly related to labor force participation than barriers. Although loss of financial and medical benefits (disincentives) as well as health status have been reported as barriers to employment, they were not as highly correlated with labor force participation as were other factors.
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Retrospective cohort study. ⋯ Although the elderly patients may benefit from the services of a dedicated spinal injuries centre, they should be carefully selected. The patient, relatives as well as the referring doctors should be alerted to the likely long-term outcomes early in the course of the injury. Elderly patients with complete lesions of the spinal cord will almost certainly remain institutionalized. Early endeavour should be made to find alternate rehabilitation settings with a lower-intensity treatment.