Prevalence, Incidence, and External Causes of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in China: A Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Survey

Background and PurposeThe epidemiological characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in China are unclear. Thus, we aimed to study prevalence, incidence, and external causes of TSCI in China nationwide. MethodsIn 2013, we conducted a nationally representative, door-to-door epidemiological survey on TSCI in China using a complex, multistage, probability sampling design. ResultsIn China, the point prevalence of TSCI standardized to the China census population 2010 was 569.7 (95% CI: 514.2-630.4) per 1,000,000 in the population, 753.6 (95% CI: 663.3-854.3) per 1,000,000 among men, and 387.7 (95% CI: 324.8-461.1) per 1,000,000 among women. The incidence of TSCI standardized to the China census population 2010 was 49.8 (95% CI: 34.4-70.7) per 1,000,000 per year in the population, 63.2 (95% CI: 38.9-98.5) per 1,000,000 among men, and 36.9 (95% CI: 19.5-65.9) per 1,000,000 among women. Among the 415 TSCI events in 394 prevalent cases, the top three injury causes were falls (55.2%), motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) (26.5%), and strike injuries (10.1%), while other injury causes including gunshot and explosion accounted for 8.2%. Among the 394 prevalent cases, the mean age of patients at the time of injury was 43.7 +/- 17.1 years; the male-to-female ratio was 1.86:1. ConclusionIt is estimated that there are 759,302 prevalent patients with TSCI in total and 66,374 new TSCI cases annually in China. Falls and MVCs are still 2 major external causes for TSCI in China.