Demographic and clinical characteristics of persons with spinal cord injury in Turkey: One-year experience of a primary referral rehabilitation center

Objective: To define the demographic and clinical characteristics of persons with spinal cord injury, rehabilitated in a primary referral rehabilitation center in Turkey. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Methods: Medical records of all patients with spinal cord injury (acute-subacute-chronic) at a single academic referral center over the course of one year were reviewed. Variables of each patient were recorded, including: age, sex, etiology, length of rehabilitation stay, neurological level of injury, level of neurological impairment and severity of injury. Results: Among 262 persons with spinal cord injury, 69.8% were male (male:female ratio is 2.31 : 1). Mean age was 38.3 +/- 17.6 years. Falls were the most common cause of injury. The majority of falls were falls from a height (93.3%). More than 20% of falls from a height were related to occupational injury. The most common neurological level of injury was L1. Of all persons 46.2% had thoracic, 27.5% had lumbar and 26.3% had cervical lesions. The mean length of rehabilitation stay was 52.1 +/- 25.5 days. Persons with motor complete injury and with a shorter (<12 months) time since injury had longer length of rehabilitation stay. Conclusion: The mean age of SCI population is increasing. Falls constitute the majority of etiologic factors and are more common in persons >60 years old. More than 20% of falls from a height are related to occupational injury. Male-female ratio is decreasing. Thoraco-lumbar injures are more common than cervical injuries.