Objective
To examine how consistently patients with spinal cord injured (SCI) after discharge use the clean intermittent catheterization (CIC). Method: The participants were 146 SCI patients hospitalized for regular urinary tract surveillance program, who resided in a community for over one year after discharge. The mean age was 40.3 years old and the mean time after injury was 6.2 years, consisted of 118 males and 28 females, and of 68 tetraplegics and 78 paraplegics. Results: At discharge, the CIC as a voiding methods was used by 97 patients, Valsalva or reflexic voiding by 43, indwelling catheterization by 3, and diaper voiding by 3. At follow-up, CIC was used by 96, Valsalva or reflexic voiding by 37, indwelling catheterization by 7, and diaper voiding by 6. Among 97 patients who used CIC at discharge, 83 consistently used the CIC (compliance=85.5%). The patients with tetraplegia showed 82.9% of compliance while the patients with paraplega showed 88.0% of compliance, but there was no statistical difference. Conclusion: The compliance with the CIC method was comparatively high (85.5%). The CIC method can be effectively applied to the management of neurogenic bladder for the SCI patients residing in a community after discharge. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2007; 31: 92-96)
