Training Peruvian Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Staff to Prevent Secondary Health Conditions in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of training on Peruvian PM&R professionals’ acquisition of knowledge about preventing or reducing risk of secondary health conditions (SHC) for their patients with spinal cord injury. A non-concurrent pre-test/post-test design was used across the training sites (rehabilitation centers) located in Lima, Arequipa and Chiclayo Perú. A purposeful sample of 146 participants was obtained as administrators arranged for their PM&R staff to attend two-day workshops containing training modules on: pressure sores, urinary tract infections, depression, bowel dysfunction, sexual dysfunction and obesity. Participants also received CDROMs or flash drives of all training materials and additional resource material in Spanish for their referral and use following training. Pre and posttests of participants’ knowledge on each of six different secondary condition workshop modules, and their satisfaction with workshop structure and content were conducted. The overall mean scores across all workshop modules and training sites show that posttest scores were higher than pretest scores for each workshop site. The mean differences across all SHC modules were significant and an analysis of Cohen’s d showed large effect sizes across all modules.