Post Doc Competition (Knowledge Generation) ID 1986576

Abstract

Background Osteoporosis has been identified in individuals as young as 35 years of age post-spinal cord injury (SCI), with males seeming to be at a higher risk than females. However, it is not clear what the prevalence of fractures associated with SCI are in Ontario, Canada. Objective To determine the prevalence and demographic characteristics of fractures in people with a SCI. Methods Data will be sourced from administrative healthcare databases at ICES, Ontario. Inclusion criteria are people with SCI and at least one fracture since their SCI. We will exclude duplicate cases, records missing unique patient identifier numbers, and age <18 years. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize sociodemographic and clinical data, disaggregated by gender, age groups, and associated injuries. Results We expect that younger adults would be more likely to have traumatic SCI and older adults to have non-traumatic SCI. We expect men to experience more traumatic SCI across all age categories. We expect that younger men will experience a higher incidence of secondary fractures as well as older women. Those with a longer time since initial SCI fracture are likely to experience a secondary fracture. Conclusion The proposed study is a foundational study to better understand fractures in people with a SCI. It is known that musculoskeletal complications are common post SCI, and osteoporosis is a common consequence of disuse due to SCI. It is necessary to understand the prevalence and impact of fractures post-SCI of those in Canada to develop prevention and management strategies.