Spinal cord injury in older population in Turkey

Abstract

Study design: Retrospective, comparative 4-year study. Objectives: To identify the clinical characteristics unique to older patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Ankara, Turkey. Methods: The study included 870 consecutive patients with SCI that were divided into two groups according to age. Patients aged >= 60 years at the time of injury constituted the study group, and randomly selected patients aged <60 years that were matched for gender, week of admission and time since injury constituted the control group. Patients' demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded, compared and analyzed. Results: The study group included 73 SCI patients (mean age: 66.98 +/- 6.28 years) and the control group included 75 SCI patients (mean age: 33.93 +/- 10.67 years). Among the 148 patients, 98 (66.2%) were male. The vast majority of lesions were at the thoracic level (47.3%). In the older group, falls were the most frequent etiology (32.9%), simple falls predominated (62.5%). 49.3% of the study group vs 18.6% of the control group had a non-traumatic cause of SCI. Older patients were found to be less likely to have complete injury (27.4 vs 44%, P = 0.035). The most common bladder management method was intermittent catheterization (69.6%) and the number of patients in each group treated with this method did not differ significantly (P>0.05). More patients in the study group had neuropathic pain (50.7 vs 34.7%, P = 0.049) and abnormal urinary ultrasound findings (23.3 vs 9.3%, P = 0.021). Conclusion: Results revealed that older patients with SCI may have different demographic and clinical features compared with younger patients.