Standardized indices of mortality among persons with spinal cord injury: accelerated aging process

We conducted this study to compare survival rates and morbidity of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) versus general population, and to clarify the risk of SCI persons. The subjects of this study were 960 men with SCI who had been accommodated in the eight Labor Accident Rehabilitation Centers in Japan during the period of 1965-1995. The surveyed items were the year of birth, the year of injury, level of spinal cord injury and survival status. The classification of cause of death was taken from ICD-10. The cumulative survival rate by life table method was calculated. In order to compare the risks of each cause of death in SCI persons with general population, cause-specific standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was examined. The leading cause of death was malignant neoplasms at 28 persons, and SMR (general population=100) was 184, followed by the circulatory system disease, external cause (including suicide) and the genitourinary system disease. In the subgroups of malignant neoplasms, the SMR was 6,619 for cutaneous carcinomas and 1,482 for bladder carcinomas (p<0.01). Thus aging-related diseases which had close correlation with lifestyle and environment were the major cause of deaths in SCI persons.