Abstract
Objective
To document trends in the demographic and injury profile of new spinal cord injury
(SCI) over time.
Design
Cross-sectional analysis of longitudinal data by injury years (1972–1979, 1980–1989,
1990–1999, 2000–2009, 2010–2014).
Setting
Twenty-eight Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems centers throughout the United States.
Participants
Persons with traumatic SCI (N=30,881) enrolled in the National Spinal Cord Injury
Database.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Age, sex, race, education level, employment, marital status, etiology, and severity
of injury.
Results
Age at injury has increased from 28.7 years in the 1970s to 42.2 years during 2010
to 2014. This aging phenomenon was noted for both sexes, all races, and all etiologies
except acts of violence. The percentage of racial minorities expanded continuously
over the last 5 decades. Virtually among all age groups, the average education levels
and percentage of single/never married status have increased, which is similar to
the trends noted in the general population. Although vehicular crashes continue to
be the leading cause of SCI overall, the percentage has declined from 47.0% in the
1970s to 38.1% during 2010 to 2014. Injuries caused by falls have increased over time,
particularly among those aged ≥46 years. Progressive increases in the percentages
of high cervical and motor incomplete injuries were noted for various age, sex, race,
and etiology groups.
Conclusions
Study findings call for geriatrics expertise and intercultural competency of the clinical
team in the acute and rehabilitation care for SCI. This study also highlights the
need for a multidimensional risk assessment and multifactorial intervention, especially
to reduce falls and SCI in older adults.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AIS (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale), NSCID (National Spinal Cord Injury Database), SCI (spinal cord injury), SCIMS (Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 21, 2016
Footnotes
Supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (grant no. 90DP0011). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this manuscript do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
