Impact of energy intake on the activities of daily living in patients with cervical spinal cord injury undergoing post-acute rehabilitation.

Objective: To investigate the association between sufficient energy intake and improvement in activities of daily living (ADL) after hospitalization in patients with cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI) undergoing post-acute rehabilitation.Design: Retrospective cohort study.Setting: Post-acute care hospital from September 2013 to December 2020.Participants: Patients with CSCI admitted to a post-acute care hospital for rehabilitation.Intervention: Not applicable.Outcome measure(s): Multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship of sufficient energy intake to Motor Functional Independence Measure (mFIM) gain, mFIM score at discharge, and body weight change during hospitalization.Results: In total, 116 patients (104 men and 12 women), median age: 55 (interquartile range [IQR] 41-65) years were included in the analysis. Then, 68 (58.6%) were in the energy-sufficient group, and 48 (41.4%) patients were classified under the energy-deficient group. The two groups did not significantly differ in terms of mFIM gain and mFIM score at discharge. The energy-sufficient group maintained body weight change during hospitalization than the energy-deficient group (0.6 [-2.0-2.0] vs. -1.9 [-4.0--0.3], P < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed no association between sufficient energy intake and outcomes.Conclusion: Sufficient energy intake within the first 3 days of admission did not affect ADL improvement during hospitalization in patients with a post-cute CSCI undergoing rehabilitation.