title: Epidemiological profile of 239 traumatic spinal cord injury cases over a period of 12 years in Tianjin, China.
abstract: METHODS
  Hospital-based retrospective review.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the epidemiological characteristics and trends of traumatic spinal cord injury in Tianjin, China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tianjin Medical University General Hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records of 239 patients with traumatic spinal cord injury admitted to a general hospital from 1998 to 2009 were reviewed. Variables included gender, age, marital status, occupation, etiology, time of injury, level, and severity of injury. Epidemiological characteristics of different countries were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over this period, the mean age of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury was 45.4 ± 14.1 years, and the male/female ratio was 4.6:1. In all, 86.2% were married. The leading cause was fall (52.3%), followed by motor vehicle collision (36.4%). The most common injury site was the cervical spinal cord, accounting for 82.0%. Incomplete tetraplegia made up for 59.4%, followed by complete tetraplegia (22.6%). Eight patients died after operation, six of whom died from respiratory complications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study are in accordance with that of most other developing countries; falls and motor vehicle collisions were the two leading causes, but the mean age was older. Percentage of the aged with traumatic spinal cord injury was increasing. The low-falls group tended to expand over this period. All these data indicated that the preventive programs should focus on the traffic accidents and falls, and more attention should be paid to the aged for the vulnerability to low fall.
authors: Tianjin Medical University General Hospital,Tianjin, People's Republic of China. fengsq321@gmail.com
authors: Hong-Yong
authors: HY
authors: Feng
authors: Guang-Zhi
authors: GZ
authors: Ning
authors: Shi-Qing
authors: SQ
authors: Feng
authors: Tie-Qiang
authors: TQ
authors: Yu
authors: Heng-Xing
authors: HX
authors: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D055815:Young Adult