Bowel management in patients with spinal cord injury - a multicentre study of the German speaking society of paraplegia (DMGP)

Study design: A descriptive, cross-sectional, multicentre design was used. Objective: To analyse bowel management in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) especially the occurrence of unplanned bowel evacuations and duration of planned bowel evacuation. Setting: In total, 29 rehabilitation facilities for SCI patients in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, with a total of 837 hospitalized SCI patients. Method: Data were collected by nurses within 1 week in November 2001 using a quantitative questionnaire containing 14 questions. For data analysis, a χ 2 -test was used for differences in the outcome of bowel evacuation procedures associated with different interventions. Stepwise multiple logistic regression was used to analyse the relationship between the outcome of bowel management and the interventions as well as intervening factors. Results: More unplanned bowel evacuations were associated with usage of oral laxatives ( n =444, P