Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury II

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Objective[edit | edit source]

The Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI) is a scale that measures the type and amount of assistance (in terms of requirements of assistive devices, or human helpers) required by a person with spinal cord injury (SCI) for walking.[1] It is an ordinal scale which rates people with SCI from being unable to walk to independent walking and designed to indicate the grades of impairment occurring after SCI and their relationship to the function of walking.[2] A year following the release of the 19 level WISCI, it was modified to WISCI II with the inclusion of two levels,[3]

Intended Population[edit | edit source]

The WISCI/WISCI II was designed as a tool to measure improvement in walking ability specifically for spinal cord injury.[1] It is precisely useful for the following categories of patients:

  1. Individuals with SCI that are able to stand and walk with parallel bars are suitable for assessment with the WISCI. Only patients with reciprocal gait should be considered when scoring the WISCI II.[2]
  2. A number of individuals with ASIA Impairment Scale grade A below T10 and AIS B, C, D qualify for assessment with the WISCI II.[4]
  3. Individuals with tetraplegic presentation require motor strength in their triceps upto a grade of 3 or more to be able to sufficiently support their body weight. [5][6]
  4. Individuals presenting with tetrapelgia and arm strength in triceps that is less than grade 3 would not be easily classified by the WISCI.[7]

Method of Use[edit | edit source]

The WISCI assessment is carried out by physical therapist. To score the WISCI/WISCI II the descriptors that relate to the present walking performance of an individual with SCI is observed. Then, appropriate level of highest walking performance is assigned to the patient. The physical therapist selects the level at which the patient is safest as observed, with patient's comfort level described in addition to this. In case other devices apart from those that have been stated in the standard definitions are used during the assessment, they should be documented as descriptors. Also, if there is a discrepancy between two observers, the record with the higher level should be selected. The patient should be observed with the WISCI level documented on using the scale rated from 0 to 20 at baseline (called the Baseline WISCI), the subject is then observed again at the defined interval (called the interval WISCI). The gains in walking can be obtained by simply subtracting the baseline WISCI from the interval WISCI, which is known as the "changed WISCI".[2]

Equipment Needed[edit | edit source]

Completion Time[edit | edit source]

Scoring[edit | edit source]

Evidence[edit | edit source]

Reliability[edit | edit source]

Validity[edit | edit source]

Responsiveness[edit | edit source]

Conclusion[edit | edit source]

Resources[edit | edit source]

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References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Ditunno JF Jr, Ditunno PL, Graziani V, Scivoletto G, Bernardi M, Castellano Vet al. Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI): an international multicenter validity and reliability study. Spinal Cord2000;38,234–243.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ditunno JF, Ditunno PL, Scivoletto G, Patrick M, Dijkers M, Barbeau H, Burns AS, Marino RJ, Schmidt-Read M. The Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI/WISCI II): nature, metric properties, use and misuse. Spinal Cord. 2013 May;51(5):346-55.
  3. Ditunno PL, Ditunno JF Jr. Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCIII): scale revision. Spinal Cord2001;39,654–656.
  4. Ditunno JF. Validation and refinement of the Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI) in a clinical setting. J Spinal Cord Med. 2004;27(2):160.
  5. Dobkin BH, Apple D, Barbeau H, Basso M, Behrman A, Deforge D, Ditunno JF, Dudley G, Elasoff R, Fugate L, Harkema S, Saulino M, Scott M.  Methods for a randomized trial of weight‐supported treadmill training versus conventional training for walking during inpatient rehabilitation after incomplete traumatic spinal cord injury.
  6. Morganti B, Scivoletto G, Ditunno P, Ditunno JF, Molinari M.  Walking index for spinal cord injury (WISCI): criterion validation. Spinal Cord 2005; 43(1): 27‐33.
  7. Ditunno JF, Burns AS, Marino RJ. Neurological and functional capacity outcome measures: essential to spinal cord injury clinical trials. Journal of rehabilitation research and development. 2005 May 1;42(3):35.