Acute non-traffic traumatic spinal cord injury in the aging population: Analysis of the National Inpatient Sample 2005–2018

This study aimed to determine risk factors for poor in-hospital outcomes in a large cohort of older adult patients with acute non-traffic traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI). This is a population-based, retrospective, observational study. Data of older adults ≥65 years with a primary discharge diagnosis of acute non-traffic tSCI were extracted from the US National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database 2005–2018. Traffic-related tSCI admissions or patients lacking complete data on age, sex and outcomes of interest were excluded. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine associations between variables and in-hospital outcomes. Data of 49,449 older patients (representing 246,939 persons in the US) were analyzed. The mean age was 79.9 years. Multivariable analyses revealed that severe International Classification of Disease (ICD)-based injury severity score (ICISS) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.77–3.57), quadriplegia (aOR = 2.79, 95%CI: 2.34–3.32), paraplegia (aOR = 2.60, 95%CI:1.89–3.58), cervical injury with vertebral fracture (aOR = 2.19, 95%CI: 1.90–2.52), and severe liver disease (aOR = 2.33, 95%CI: 1.34–4.04) were all strong independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. In addition, malnutrition (aOR = 3.19, 95% CI: 2.93–3.48) was the strongest predictors of prolonged length of stay (LOS). Several critical factors for in-hospital mortality, unfavorable discharge, and prolonged LOS among US older adults with acute non-traffic tSCI were identified. In addition to the factors associated with initial severity, the presence of severe liver disease and malnutrition emerged as strong predictors of unfavorable outcomes, highlighting the need for special attention for these patient subgroups.