Nontraumatic Spinal Cord Injury Etiology and Rehabilitation Outcomes: SCI Model Systems Pilot Study Data

The Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) began studying traumatic SCI (TSCI) in 1970. The National Institute of Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) provided pilot funding during the 2021-2026 SCIMS funding cycle to perform an initial study of individuals with nontraumatic spinal cord injury (NTSCI).

To describe the demographic and etiological profiles and inpatient rehabilitation outcomes of the SCIMS NTSCI pilot cohort.

This was a descriptive study of adults with NTSCI admitted to SCIMS centers who consented to medical records abstraction and completed survey questionnaires near the completion of inpatient rehabilitation.

One hundred eighty-seven people with NTSCI consented to participate and provided data. The etiology of patients' NTSCI was degenerative vertebral causes (n = 67), tumor-malignant (n = 29), tumor-benign/unknown (n = 16), vascular (n = 28), infection (n = 26), and other NTSCI causes (n = 21). The average age was 59.2 years. Over 40% of the population was age 60-74 years. The population was 35% female, 59.5% non-Hispanic White, 21.6% non-Hispanic Black, and 11.4% Hispanic. Age, sex, race, and ethnicity distributions did not differ significantly across etiology groups. Only symptom onset time (P = .002) and marital status (P = .005) were significantly different between groups. Vascular disorders onset was less than a day in 60% of cases. Greater than 60% of tumor-malignant, vascular, and other NTSCI individuals were married or living with a partner.

The US SCIMS program can recruit a population of NTSCI research participants that is consistent with previously published results. Ongoing study of NTSCI through the US SCIMS could provide important data akin to that available regarding TSCI.