Abstract
Aim. To have updated information on the epidemiology of spinal cord injury (SCI) is required for developing an adequate and effective related health policy strategies and consequent contextual decisions making regarding this category of patients and also for planning and implementing SCI prevention education and measures. Accordingly, the rationale of this article is to provide a systematic overview of the literature regarding SCI epidemiology. Material and methods. We reviewed epidemiological published reports and searched on internet specifically databases, from different centres, worldwide, about SCI, collecting descriptive data for properly estimating the incidence, prevalence, and/ or causes of SCI. Results. The global annual incidence rate is considered to be 23 cases of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) per million (179,312 new cases per annum – results provided by World Health Organisation’s (WHO) in 2007). Prevalence per million inhabitants varies quite largely among statistics in different countries (from 280 in Finland to 681 in Australia, 755 in the United States of America or maybe even more, and even bigger in Canada). Men more commonly suffer from this kind of pathology and the direction of SCI evolution is to have a higher cord lesion level (more tetraplegics than paraplegics) and age at injury. Conclusion. Even if the results of this literature review showed that the SCI incidence and prevalence are rising, they did not suffer significant changes in the last three decades of time. The prevalence surveys remain poor, mainly because a basic requirement for having correct and appropriately updated figures would need national and or regional electronic dedicated registers of evidence, and this is not a situation frequent enough. But the incidence studies from USA and Europe have been increased in the last years. This article asserts the need for improving the SCI data standardised collection in many countries, especially in the ones from low developed or emergent areas.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a neurological condition that usually determine important loss of basic functions [1,2,3,4] being divided in two main types of lesion i.e. complete and incomplete and having often devastating lifelong sequels
Even if Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) incidence and prevalence has been enhanced in several countries worldwide, there are no major changes in the last three decades [10] and additional related studies must be undertaken including in purpose to improve the prevention priorities and actions. [27,32]
Important efforts should be done to prevent TSCI in both: young adult males and the ones caused by motor vehicle crushes and in older persons, respectively
Summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a neurological condition that usually determine important loss of basic functions (mobility, sensitivity, micturition and/or defecation control etc) [1,2,3,4] being divided in two main types of lesion i.e. complete and incomplete and having often devastating lifelong sequels. Onose as Project Director, deployed and carried out an excellency scientific research project entitled „Initiation of a National Informatical Network for dynamic clustering of patients with Spinal Cord Injury, dedicated to improve their quality of life, by aiming the eficientisation of the specific medico-social services, in transition“ Within this project there has been achieved a partially automatically updating database, including by dynamic clustering. This intended national database could store information (secured, according to actual laws); yet, including patented by the Romanian State Office for Inventions and Marks (registered No: RO 2011 00006 – „Interactive integrated system for collecting and managing biomedical data dedicated to advanced patients’ dispensary“) this has still not been implemented, pending on approval from the Social Medical Insurance System. Initiation of such a network – warmly encouraged by the Leadership of the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) – through wide-spreading specific information, would hopefully contribute to improve knowledge on chronic post SCI patients’ situations, we do not currently have an electronic register with such individuals. [10]
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