Abstract
Study design
Scoping review.
Objectives
To describe the meaning of cognitive appraisals, their relation with outcome. measures, and adapted appraisal scales after Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) in the existing literature.
Methods
This review was performed according to the Arksey and O’Malley (2005) framework that consisted of five steps: setting the review question, searching the literature, selecting and classifying the studies, charting the data, and summarizing the results. Published articles from 1990 to 16 May 2020 related to cognitive appraisal, persons with traumatic SCI (TSCI), and persons older than 18 years were identified by searching by key terms in four databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase).
Results
The included studies (n = 26) were categorized into three categories. Categories focused on the meanings of cognitive appraisals following TSCI (i.e., appraisals being complex and context-related, or in general definition how persons with TSCI interpret their disability and how they evaluate the resources available to respond to it), the relationship between cognitive appraisals and physical/psychological/social/ outcomes, and appraisals of disability (including the use of appraisals as a predictor of subsequent positive or negative consequences).
Conclusions
The results demonstrated that a cognitive appraisal of TSCI is critical to longer-term rehabilitation outcomes. A combination of physical and psychological-based interventions can help to modify negative or dysfunctional appraisals. Cognitive appraisal in TSCI seems to vary from person to person. To predict it and develop a rehabilitation plan, future research needs to focus on the relationship between cognitive appraisal and person-related factors, including demographic characteristics.
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Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its Supplementary Information files).
Change history
22 August 2022
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-022-00839-1
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Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge Ms. Eskandari, Ms. Niloofar Yazdanpanah, Ms. Ghazavi, and Ms. Mina Abedi for their support in conducting the scoping review.
Funding
This work was funded by Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences [grant number is 98-02-38-43250].
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Contributions
MSh suggested the title of article and contributed to designing the review protocol. VRM and SMGh contributed to designing the review protocol. They supervised the work and managed the research team to do the job accurately. MGh screened potentially eligible studies, extracted data, and entered data into EndNote. RHA and FR extracted and interpreted results. In addition, SSh, PMS, ZGh, and MSh completed the database search and created the “Summary of findings” tables. ARV revised the article critically and did English editing several times. All authors wrote the article and help to critically review.
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The authors declare that they have no competing interests except ARV (Appendix 2).
Ethics approval
The Ethics Committee of Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, approved the study, and the reference number is 98-02-38-374. We certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations were followed during the course of this research.
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Shabany, M., Ghodsi, S.M., Arejan, R.H. et al. Cognitive appraisals of disability in persons with traumatic spinal cord injury: a scoping review. Spinal Cord 60, 954–962 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-022-00756-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-022-00756-3
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