Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate the incidence and epidemiologic characteristics of acquired nontraumatic
spinal cord injury (NTSCI) in Finland.
Design
Prospective 4-year epidemiologic multicenter study.
Setting
Two of the 3 spinal cord injury (SCI) centers in Finland responsible for acute care,
immediate rehabilitation, and lifelong follow-up for all SCI patients in a population
of 3,073,052 (as of 2013).
Participants
All newly diagnosed NTSCI patients (N=430) admitted to Tampere University Hospital
between 2012 and 2015 and Oulu University Hospital between 2013 and 2016 based on
the evaluation of the designated rehabilitation teams. Patients with NTSCI resulting
from congenital etiologies or progressive neurologic diseases were excluded.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Incidence and variables, according to the International SCI Core Data Set and the
International Standards for Neurological Classification of SCI, including etiology
and the severity of injury.
Results
The incidence of NTSCI was 54.1 per million per year. NTSCI was more common in men
(n=260, 60.5%) than women (n=170, 39.5%). The mean age was 62.0±14.6 years old. Degenerative
causes were the most common etiology (n=219, 50.9%), followed by malignant (n=88,
20.5%) and benign (n=41, 9.5%) neoplasms. The injury resulted in tetraplegia in 177
patients (41.1%) and paraplegia in 249 patients (57.9%). American Spinal Injury Association
Impairment Scale grade D injuries were common, with an incidence of 71% (n=304). Specialized
inpatient rehabilitation was needed in 44% (n=189) of the cases.
Conclusions
There are no previous studies on the epidemiology of NTSCI in Finland, and international
reporting has been limited. The incidence of NTSCI in our study was substantially
higher than in most previous studies, which was likely owing to our study including
individuals with less severe lesions who did not require inpatient rehabilitation.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AIS (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale), LOS (length of stay), NTSCI (nontraumatic spinal cord injury), SCI (spinal cord injury), TSCI (traumatic spinal cord injury), UH (University Hospital)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 28, 2020
Footnotes
Supported by the Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District (State Research Funding, VTR).
Disclosures: Dr Vainionpää has received lecture fees from Allergan Norden Ab and Orion Oyj, and a consultant fee from Coloplast Oy. The other authors have nothing to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
