Frequency of turning in bed at home in persons with chronic spinal cord injury

Objective: To determine the routine turning frequency of persons with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) in bed at night in their home environment.Design: An online questionnaire consisting of 22 questions.Setting: Free standing SCI rehabilitation facility.Participants: Persons between ages 18–75 with a traumatic SCI for ≥3 months, and living at home.Interventions: None.Outcome measures: Questionnaire-based evaluation of turning frequency of persons with SCI.Results: 86 subjects (70 men) with traumatic SCI completed the survey; 66.3% with tetraplegia and 41.9% with a neurological complete SCI. Almost every participant (96%) recalled being counseled on the importance of turning in bed at night upon discharge from their rehabilitation facility with 48.4% recalling the frequency recommended as every 2 h. At present, 25.6% of subjects reported turning every 2 h, 15.1% every 3 h, 15.1% every 4 h, 3.5% every 6 h, and 40.7% of respondents stated that they do not turn regularly at night.Conclusion: Although frequently recommended for repositioning at night in bed every two hours for persons with chronic SCI, especially for those at risk for pressure injuries, only 25.6% of individuals report turning at this frequency and 40.7% report not turning at night time regularly. The reasons for limited turning may be multi-factorial, however, this finding may serve as a call to practitioners to best determine the most appropriate turning frequency that can meet compliance of the individual with SCI, as well as maintain skin protection in the chronic period after injury.