title: Two-year survival following discharge from hospital after spinal cord injury in Bangladesh.
abstract: METHODS
  Mixed retrospective-prospective cohort study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine 2-year survival following discharge from hospital after spinal cord injury in Bangladesh.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bangladesh.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records were used to identify all patients admitted in 2011 with a recent spinal cord injury to the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, a large Bangladeshi hospital that specialises in care of people with spinal cord injury. Patients or their families were subsequently visited or contacted by telephone in 2014. Vital status and, where relevant, date and cause of death were determined by verbal autopsy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  350 of 371 people admitted with a recent spinal cord injury in 2011 were discharged alive from hospital. All but eleven were accounted for two years after discharge (97% follow-up). Two-year survival was 87% (95% CI 83% to 90%). Two-year survival of those who were wheelchair-dependent was 81% (95% CI 76% to 86%). The most common cause of death was sepsis due to pressure ulcers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Bangladesh, approximately one in five people with spinal cord injury who are wheelchair-dependent die within two years of discharge from hospital. Most deaths are due to sepsis from potentially preventable pressure ulcers.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Herbert
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Quadir
authors.affiliation: John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Kolling Institute, Sydney Medical School/Northern, University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bowden
authors.affiliation: John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Kolling Institute, Sydney Medical School/Northern, University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Harvey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000401:mortality*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014910:Wheelchairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*