Understanding mechanism of traumatic spinal cord injury in an emergent nation: A coast to coast survey

Abstract

Background: People with a spinal cord injury (SCI) have poor survival rates in low- and middle-income group countries. SCI prevention is critical to decreasing societal and individual health expenditure. Knowledge of the mechanism of SCI and contributory factors is necessary for successful prevention programs. There are limited population-based studies that explain the cause of SCI in an emergent economy like India. Available studies are limited to a specific region or hospital. Our study was done to understand the causes of traumatic SCI all over India. Methods: Online survey was conducted among SCI patients. Patients were given objective questions. Consecutive participants in 6 months were included from April 2022 to October 2022. Snow-bowling method was followed. Participants who had a SCI with known etiology were included in the analysis (n = 96). Different mechanisms of SCI documented in the databases were stratified by personal characteristics using descriptive analysis. Results: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) followed by fall from height were the biggest contributor of SCI. The most common causes of SCI were RTAs (50%) and fall from height (37.50%), followed by assault (4.17%), and others (8.33%). Conclusion: In primarily agriculture-based countries, fall from height (especially tree) was expected to be a major mechanism of SCI; however, our study shows a reversal of a trend. Improvement in rural infrastructure is decreasing the gap between RTA and falls from height as a major mechanism of SCI. It is time to make health policies primarily to prevent RTA and fall from height.

Keywords

• epidemiology
• etiology
• prevention
• spinal cord injuries