title: Spinal cord injury in Manitoba: a provincial epidemiological study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To define the epidemiological trends and identify populations at risk of traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injury (NTSCI) for the province of Manitoba, Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed records retrospectively for subjects in three cohorts (1981-1985, 1998-2002, and 2003-2007). A total of 553 individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) were studied for variables such as age, level of injury, severity of injury, First Nations (FN) status, and etiology of injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Incidence of overall SCi has increased from 22.0 to 46.5 per million (P< 0.001). Incidence of NTSCI increased from 3.12 per million to 16.7 per million (P < 0.001). Incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) has increased from the 17.1 per million to 25.6 per million (P<0.001). There was a significant increase in the mean age at injury from 30.23 to 45.768 years of age (P < 0.0001). Female and NTSCI have a higher mean and median age at injury. There was a significant (P = 0.0008) increase in the proportion of females with a most recent male/female ratio of 3.4:1. A temporal increase in incomplete injuries was observed (P < 0.0001). Incomplete and thoracic level injuries are more common with NTSCI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results demonstrate that there are significant differences between NTSCI and TSCI in Manitoba, and that Manitoba trends in SCI are in keeping with those seen on a national and an international level. There is a high risk of SCI in Manitoba FN, for which preventive strategies need to be put in place, and higher resource structure geared towards. Additionally, the trend of older age at injury has significant implications for structuring acute care and rehabilitation programs for these individuals, enhancing the need for treating older and more medically complicated individuals with SCI.
authors.affiliation: Physical Medicine and Rehab, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. j_mccammon@hotmail.com
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: McCammon
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ethans
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008350:Manitoba / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*