title: Are the characteristics of the patient with a spinal cord injury changing?
abstract: METHODS
  A retrospective analytical study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the epidemiologic pattern of spinal cord injury (SCI) over the last decade.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients admitted in the spinal cord injury unit at a university hospital between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  A review of the clinical history of the patients was conducted. Patients were allocated according to traumatic (traffic and non-traffic accidents) or non-traumatic origin (tumour and non-tumour disease). Information about gender, age, admission and discharge date and cause, level and grade of spinal cord injury was collected. An analysis using the time-trend series was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average length of stay decreases 1.5 days quarterly, and the average patient's age increases 0.25 year quarterly. No trend was observed with respect to the number of cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the number of patients with an SCI caused by an accident has decreased and the average age of patients with an SCI has increased, it cannot be said that there has been a paradigm shift in patients with SCI.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari I Politècnic La Fe from Valencia. Spinal Cord Injury Unit, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sebastià-Alcácer
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Sant Francesc de Borja de Gandia. Servicio de Rehabilitación, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alcanyis-Alberola
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari I Politècnic La Fe from Valencia. Spinal Cord Injury Unit, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giner-Pascual
authors.affiliation: Hospital Sant Francesc de Borja de Gandia, Servicio de Medicina Preventiva, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gomez-Pajares
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult