Spinal cord injuries in Japan: a nationwide epidemiological survey in 1990

Abstract

To survey the situation of traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI) in Japan, the SCI Prevention Committee of the Japanese Medical Society of Paraplegia sent out by mail study charts in the form of questionnaires to institutions nationwide. Using the statistical method of the nationwide epidemiological survey described by Hashimoto et at, 1 the annual estimated incidence was obtained from the number of patients registered, and from the questionnaire reply rate at each prefecture. The number of registered patients in 1990 was 3465 and the mean reply rate was 56.6%. There were 2665 registered patients with a neurological deficit (Frankel A-D) and the annual SCI incidence was 39.4 per million.The male:female ratio was 4.3:1 and the ratio of cervical cord injures to those caudal to the cervical cord was 2.9:1. The mean age at the time of injury was 48.5 years. The cause most frequently seen was traffic accidents, the second most frequent being falls from a height. Besides those two, sports injuries and falls on level ground were the third most frequent causes of SCI in the young generation and in elderly people respectively.

A nationwide epidemiological survey of spinal cord injuries in Japan from January 1990 to December 1992

“…The results of the survey in 1990 were reported previously. 1 The incidence of SCI shows a discrepancy when comparing different reports. Reviewing the medical literature published from 1960 to 1990, the incidence of newly hospitalised patients was reported to range from 9.2 to 53.4 per million per annum (Table 7).…”

“…The results obtained were reported previously. 1 The following description provides an overview of the 9752 traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI) which were reported from January 1 1990 to December 31 1992 (3 years).…”

Rehabilitation of spinal cord injury in France: a nationwide multicentre study of incidence and regional disparities

“…1,[4][5][6]8,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] These studies reveal a wide range of incidences, from 10.4 to 56, which can be explained partly by the different methodologies used (retrospective or prospective, mono-or multicentre surveys). The use of medical coding upon admission to register patients allows for a high level of comprehensiveness but sometimes these codes lack reliability and do not always enable to differentiate new cases from old ones.…”

“…In studies that include patients from the prehospital or acute care phase (Table 1), there is a higher incidence, partly because patients who die more quickly are taken into account, but also because those who recover quickly and sometimes fully (ASIA E) are included. 4,5 These patients, who usually do not need to be hospitalized for rehabilitation, do not appear in studies focusing on the rehabilitation stage. It may also occur that patients with a minimal cauda equina syndrome may have been referred to PMR units specialized in orthopaedics or nonspecialized follow-up care units.…”

“…Estimations of SCI incidence vary widely, from 8 to 58 SCI persons per million inhabitants per annum (Table 1). Three types of parameters can account for such wide differences: 12 1978-1981 Taiwan 14.6 R, postinjury acute care Gehrig and Michaelis (1986) 13 1960-1967 Switzerland 13.4 R, postinjury acute care, multicentre Biering-Sorensen et al (1990) 24 1975-1984 Denmark 9.2 R, PMR, multicentre Garcia et al (1991) 25 1984-1985 Spain 8 R, PMR, multicentre Acton et al (1993) 14 1980-1989 USA (Arkansas) 28.5 R, postinjury acute care, multicentre Price et al (1994) 15 1988-1990 USA (Oklahoma) 40 R, postinjury acute care and PMR, multicentre Thurman et al (1994) 16 1989-1991 USA (Utah) 43 R, postinjury acute care and PMR, multicentre Knutsdottir (1993) 17 1973-1982 Iceland 24 P, postinjury acute care and PMR [1983][1984][1985][1986][1987][1988][1989] 18 P, postinjury acute care and PMR Lan et al (1993) 18 1986-1990 Taiwan (rural areas) 56 R, postinjury acute care, multicentre Shingu et al (1994) 4 1990 Japan 39.4 R, postinjury acute care and PMR, multicentre 50. 5 Inclusion of forms of ASIA E Soopramanien (1994) 5 1992-1993 Romania 18.5 R, postinjury acute care, 1 unit 28.…”