Prevalence of comorbidities and secondary health conditions among the Finnish population with spinal cord injury

Abstract

Study design A cross-sectional study. Objectives To explore the prevalence of comorbidities, secondary health conditions (SHCs), and multimorbidity in the Finnish population with spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting The data were collected from the Finnish Spinal Cord Injury Study (FinSCI). Participants were identified from three SCI outpatient clinics responsible for the lifelong follow-up of persons with SCI in Finland, (n = 884 participants, response rate; 50%). Methods The FinSCI-questionnaire included a question from the National Study of Health, Well-being, and Service (FinSote) for screening 12 comorbidities. The reference data of the general population for that question were received from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. The Spinal Cord Injury Secondary Condition Scale (SCI-SCS) was used to screen 16 SHCs. The data were analysed with univariate testing and multivariable negative binomial regression modelling. Results The most common comorbidities were high blood pressure/hypertension (38%), back problems (28%), and high cholesterol (22%). The most common SHCs were joint and muscle pain (81%), muscle spasms (74%), chronic pain (71%), and bowel problems (71%). The prevalence of comorbidities was highest among persons aged ≥76 years (mean; 2.0; scale range; 0–12). The prevalence of SHCs was highest in the severity of SCI group C1–4 AIS A, B, and C (mean; 8.9; scale range; 0–16). Conclusions Further research on geriatrics in SCI, non-traumatic SCI, and knowledge of the needs of persons with cervical lesion AIS A, B, or C is required, due to the fact that the prevalence of multimorbidity is high in these groups.

Physical Health Conditions in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury Across 21 Countries Worldwide

“…The high prevalence rates of health conditions secondary to SCI found in the current study are consistent with previous findings from numerous national and single site studies during the last decades (3,6,8,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). The prevalence rates, however, differed in this inquiry, across both countries and WHO regions.…”

“…The lower odds of comorbidity for those with an incomplete SCI lesion, and for those having a non-traumatic SCI, are in line with previously reported Swiss data (21). The results contrast, however, with findings from a recent Finnish study, in which differences between the groups for SCI severity did not reach statistical significance (27).…”

“…This, in addition to the low reported hospitalization rate within the last year, might indicate that our respondents were not the ones with the most severe health conditions secondary to SCI. Sexual dysfunction was reported more frequently among males than females, as also reported by others (21,27). In addition, sexual dysfunction stood out as the health condition with the highest self-reported level of severity, and notably, of those who reported this to be an extreme problem, only approximately 16% reported receiving treatment for it.…”

The Diagnosis and Management of Cardiometabolic Risk and Cardiometabolic Syndrome after Spinal Cord Injury

“…Similar findings regarding dyslipidemia have also been reported internationally. Tallqvist et al [ 95 ] surveyed the Finnish population with SCI and observed that 22% had hypercholesterolemia. This value was less than half that of the general population in Finland, where approximately 55% have hypercholesterolemia [ 96 ].…”

“…The authors observed that hypertension was the most common comorbidity, such that 75% of the study participants presented with the condition compared to 26.1% in the general Saudi Arabian population of all ages [ 110 ]. Tallqvist et al [ 95 ] reported that among the Finnish SCI population, hypertension was found in almost 40% of the 884 participants surveyed, which was 3% below that of the general population [ 111 ]. Jörgensen et al [ 75 ], in the Swedish Aging with SCI Study, demonstrated that 33% of the study’s cohort had a previous diagnosis of hypertension, and 55% presented with a hypertensive blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg (27% of the general Swedish population are said to have hypertension [ 112 ]).…”