Epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury in Catalonia, Spain: a 50 years’ experience of a referral center

• Published in: Spinal cord series and cases Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 17
• Main Authors: García-Rudolph, Alejandro, Wright, Mark Andrew, Benito, Jesus, Vallés, Margarita, Sassul, Martín, Sanchez-Pinsach, David, Opisso, Eloy, Vidal, Joan, Bernabeu, Montserrat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 09.07.2025; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/308/174; 692/699/375/1824; Accidental Falls - statistics & numerical data; Accidents, Traffic - statistics & numerical data; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anatomy; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Child; Epidemiology; Etiology; Falls; Female; Human Physiology; Humans; Incidence; Industrialized nations; International standards; Male; Middle Aged; Neurochemistry; Neuropsychology; Neurosciences; Population; Retrospective Studies; Spain - epidemiology; Spinal cord injuries; Spinal Cord Injuries - epidemiology; Spinal Cord Injuries - etiology; Suicides & suicide attempts; Violence; Young Adult; Spain; Catalonia Spain
• ISSN: 2058-6124; 2058-6124
• DOI: 10.1038/s41394-025-00714-0

Study design Hospital-based retrospective epidemiological research. Objectives To describe the epidemiological and demographic characteristics of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in Catalonia from 1972–2022. Setting Neurological university hospital in Catalonia. Methods All patients diagnosed with TSCI admitted to the hospital from 1972–2022 were retrospectively reviewed. Etiology categories, neurological level of injury, American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and crude incidence rates were analyzed. Results A total of 3092 individuals with TSCI met the criteria. The crude annual incidence rate was 0.94/100,000 inhabitants. Mean age rose significantly over the years, from 27.7 (SD = 10.9) during 1972–1981 to 41.8 (SD = 17.1) during 2012–2022. The proportion of females constantly increased during 1982–2022 (18.4−23.1%). Etiologies were traffic accidents (51.8%), falls (22.0%), sports (9.8%), work-related (9.1%), suicide attempts (4.6%) and violence (2.7%). The proportion of traffic accidents dropped from 62.4% during 1982–1991 to 37.5% during 2012–2022, whereas falls increased from 14.5% during 1982–1991 to 26.0% during 2012–2022. Suicide attempts was the only etiology constantly increasing during 1972–2022 from 1–8% and with highest proportion of females (55.9%). Thoracic injuries dropped from 57.9% (1972–1981) to 38.3% (2012–2022), while cervical injuries constantly increased up to 48.8% in 2012–2022 with AIS A cases dropping and AIS D increasing. During 2002–2022, the etiologies with highest proportion of poor motor FIM at admission were sports (68.9%) and falls (63.1%). Conclusions Our results suggest the need on prevention strategies specially addressing falls and female suicide attempts.