Health behaviors among American Indians with spinal cord injury: Comparison with data from the 1996 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Objective: To identify patterns of health behaviors and health outcomes amo ng a sample of American Indian men with spinal cord injury. Design: Telephone interviews with all participants, except those who did no t have telephones (they returned materials by mail). Setting: Large rehabilitation hospital in the Western mountain region of th e United States. Participants: Seventy-six American Indian men with traumatic SCI of at leas t 1 year in duration. Main Outcome Measure: Selected health-related behaviors from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were used to assess health behavio rs and general health outcomes among the American Indian SCI sample and to compare findings with those from American Indian men without SCI based on n ationwide BRFSS data. Results: The study participants reported lower overall health and satisfact ion with health care than the non-SCI BRFSS group. They also reported a dif ferent pattern of health behaviors, including a greater frequency of inocul ations for flu and pneumonia but a lower rate of HIV testing and cholestero l screening. A smaller percentage of American Indians used alcohol, but tho se who did reported more heavy drinking. Conclusions: American Indians with SCI are more likely to receive health ca re consistent with the prevention of secondary conditions of SCI (eg, pneum onia), but less likely to receive basic health screens intended to prevent chronic health diseases. (C) 1999 by the American Congress of Rehabilitatio n Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation .