What should be clarified when learning the International Standards to Document Remaining Autonomic Function after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI) among medical students

Xing, Huayi; Liu, Nan; Krassioukov, Andrei V.; Biering-Sørensen, Fin

doi:10.1038/s41394-021-00431-4

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Published: 31 July 2021

What should be clarified when learning the International Standards to Document Remaining Autonomic Function after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI) among medical students

Spinal Cord Series and Cases volume 7, Article number: 68 (2021) Cite this article

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The International Standards to Document Remaining Autonomic Function after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI) is a classification system to assess autonomic dysfunction after spinal cord injury (SCI) [1, 2]. The system was developed as an adjunct to the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) [3]. ISAFSCI describes important aspects of the neurologic exam after SCI and has been proposed as a standard assessment during the evaluation of individuals with SCI [4].

The Autonomic Standards Committee of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) leads the development and revision of the ISAFSCI, which will be updated and revised based on the recommendations from users [2, 5]. The previous studies on ISNCSCI reliability [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13] and its training [14,15,16,17,18] have helped us to know more about the tool, and have facilitated its implementation in the clinical practice. In a recent study, inter-rater reliability of the ISAFSCI was moderate or strong [19]. Healthcare professionals have found the ISAFSCI useful in documentation of autonomic function [5, 20, 21]. Systematic use of ISAFSCI is recommended to document blood pressure changes in the SCI population [22]. Using both ISAFSCI and ISNCSCI can obtain more detailed information about the retention of sacral function within the SCI population [23]. Accurate ISAFSCI implementation needs clear instructions [5]. Based on feedbacks from a group of medical students who have received ISAFSCI training, our study attempted to identify the problems during ISAFSCI implementation, and to provide revision suggestion for a better instruction.

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The data generated or analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 11502003; the National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 81871851.

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Authors and Affiliations

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
Huayi Xing & Nan Liu
International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, GF Strong Rehabilitation Center, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Andrei V. Krassioukov
Clinic for Spinal Cord Injuries, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Fin Biering-Sørensen

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Huayi Xing
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Nan Liu
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Andrei V. Krassioukov
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Fin Biering-Sørensen
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Correspondence to Nan Liu.

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Study setting: Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

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Xing, H., Liu, N., Krassioukov, A.V. et al. What should be clarified when learning the International Standards to Document Remaining Autonomic Function after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI) among medical students. Spinal Cord Ser Cases 7, 68 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-021-00431-4

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Received: 12 June 2020
Revised: 15 July 2021
Accepted: 19 July 2021
Published: 31 July 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-021-00431-4

What should be clarified when learning the International Standards to Document Remaining Autonomic Function after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI) among medical students

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