Table 1.
Sociodemographic and injury characteristics by neurologic category across racial and ethnic groups
| Characteristics | Tetraplegia
|
Paraplegia
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Tetraplegia (n=756) |
Non-Hispanic White (n=506) |
Non-Hispanic Black (n=155) |
Hispanic (n=95) |
Total Paraplegia (n=1010) |
Non-Hispanic White (n=600) |
Non-Hispanic Black (n=295) |
Hispanic (n=115) |
|
| Demographics | ||||||||
| Age at injury (y) | 35.3±13.3 | 36.0±14.1 | 34.6±12.0 | 32.5±10.9 | 33.7±13.0 | 36.4±14.0 | 29.3±9.7* | 30.8±10.3* |
| 18–29 | 41.7 | 40.7 | 41.3 | 47.4 | 46.8 | 39.8 | 59.0 | 52.2 |
| 30–49 | 41.9 | 40.3 | 47.1 | 42.1 | 40.0 | 41.5 | 36.6 | 40.9 |
| ≥50 | 16.4 | 19.0 | 11.6 | 10.5 | 13.2 | 18.7 | 4.4* | 7.0* |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Male | 82.3 | 81.2 | 83.9 | 85.3 | 83.4 | 80.3 | 89.5† | 83.5 |
| Marital status | ||||||||
| Single | 47.3 | 44.4 | 55.5* | 49.5 | 52.5 | 41.3 | 74.2* | 54.8 |
| No longer married | 17.1 | 17.7 | 18.1 | 12.6 | 13.6 | 16.0 | 9.2 | 12.2 |
| Married | 35.5 | 37.9 | 26.5 | 37.9 | 34.0 | 42.7 | 16.6 | 33.0 |
| Socioeconomic factors | ||||||||
| Education | ||||||||
| < HS | 14.1 | 7.1* | 27.2 | 31.5 | 20.1 | 10.9* | 31.0 | 38.9 |
| HS/GED | 63.0 | 63.5 | 64.2 | 58.4 | 60.6 | 63.8 | 56.9 | 54.0 |
| Some college + | 22.8 | 29.4* | 8.6 | 10.1 | 19.3 | 25.3* | 12.1 | 7.1 |
| Employment status | ||||||||
| Preinjury employment status | ||||||||
| Unemployed | 18.9 | 15.1 | 31.1* | 19.8 | 21.0 | 14.0 | 36.8* | 17.7 |
| Employed | 81.1 | 84.9 | 68.9* | 80.2 | 79.0 | 86.0 | 63.2* | 82.3 |
| Postinjury employment status | ||||||||
| Unemployed | 92.6 | 90.9 | 98.1‡ | 92.6 | 84.9 | 79.8 | 93.6* | 89.6 |
| Employed | 7.4 | 9.1 | 1.9‡ | 7.4 | 15.1 | 20.2* | 6.4 | 10.4 |
| Injury characteristics | ||||||||
| Injury etiology | ||||||||
| Vehicular | 49.7 | 50.2 | 51.3 | 44.7 | 38.8 | 45.2 | 26.1* | 38.6 |
| Falls | 19.5 | 19.1 | 18.2 | 23.4 | 23.9 | 31.4 | 7.5 | 27.2 |
| Violence | 8.8 | 3.6 | 22.7* | 13.8* | 24.6 | 6.4 | 61.0* | 25.4† |
| Sports | 20.0 | 25.1 | 5.8* | 16.0 | 7.9 | 11.9 | 1.4* | 3.5* |
| Surgical/medical | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 3.5 |
| Pedestrian | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
| Neurologic level at discharge | ||||||||
| C1-3 (n=68) | 9.0 | 8.7 | 9.7 | 9.5 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| C4 (n=263) | 34.8 | 33.8 | 38.1 | 34.7 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| C5 (n=207) | 27.4 | 27.7 | 26.5 | 27.4 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| C6 (n=148) | 19.6 | 20.6 | 15.5 | 21.1 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| C7-8 (n=70) | 9.3 | 9.3 | 10.3 | 7.4 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| T1-9 (n=585) | NA | NA | NA | NA | 57.9 | 57.3 | 58.0 | 60.9 |
| T10-L1 (n=385) | NA | NA | NA | NA | 38.1 | 38.2 | 38.6 | 36.5 |
| L2-S2 (n=40) | NA | NA | NA | NA | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 2.6 |
| Length of stay (no. of days from acute rehabilitation to discharge) | ||||||||
| Mean ± SD | 78.8±44.4 | 82.7±45.0 | 68.0±42.1† | 75.6±42.6 | 52.5±33.2 | 54.1±33.6 | 48.2±32.2‡ | 55±33.0 |
| Median | 67.0 | 72.0 | 57.0 | 63.0 | 43.0 | 45.0 | 38.0 | 46.5 |
| Admission rehabilitation motor FIM scores | ||||||||
| Self-care (6 items) | 1.3±0.6 (1.0–5.0) | 1.2±0.5 (1.0–4.0) | 1.3±0.7 (1.0–5.0) | 1.2±0.5 (1.0–3.5) | 3.0±0.8 (1.0–6.5) | 2.9±0.9 (1.0–6.3) | 3.1±0.8‡ (1.0–6.5) | 3.0±0.8 (1.3–5.1) |
| Mobility (5 items) | 1.1±0.3 (1.0–3.6) | 1.1±0.3 (1.0–3.4) | 1.1±0.3 (1.0–3.6) | 1.2±0.3 (1.0–3.0) | 1.7±0.7 (1.0–5.6) | 1.6±0.7 (1.0– 5.4) | 1.7±0.6 (1.0–4.6) | 1.7±0.8 (1.0–5.6) |
| Discharge motor FIM scores | ||||||||
| Self-care (6 items) | 2.6±1.4 (1.0–6.6) | 2.6±1.5 (1.0–6.6) | 2.2±1.2 (1.0–6.5) | 2.8±1.4† (1.0–6.3) | 5.5±1.0 (1.5–7.0) | 5.5±1.0 (1.5–7.0) | 5.5±1.0 (1.5–7.0) | 5.9±0.8‡ (2.67–7.0) |
| Mobility (5 items) | 2.2±0.9 (1.0–6.4) | 2.3±1.0 (1.0–6.2) | 2.0±0.9 (1.0–6.4) | 2.4±0.9† (1.0–5.0) | 4.2±1.0 (1.0–7.0) | 4.2±1.0 (1.0– 7.0) | 4.2±0.9 (1.0–6.0) | 4.4±0.8‡ (2.0–6.0) |
| 1-year follow-up motor FIM scores | ||||||||
| Self-care (6 items) | 3.0±1.8 (1.0–7.0) | 3.0±1.8 (1.0–7.0) | 2.8±1.8 (1.0–7.0) | 3.2±1.8 (1.0–7.0) | 6.2±1.0 (1.5–7.0) | 6.2±1.0 (1.5– 7.0) | 6.1±1.1 (1.6–7.0) | 6.2±0.9 (3.1–7.0) |
| Mobility (5 items) | 2.5±1.4 (1.0–7.0) | 2.6±1.4 (1.0–7.0) | 2.3±1.3 (1.0–6.8) | 2.7±1.3 (1.0–5.8) | 4.8±1.1 (1.0–7.0) | 4.8±1.1 (1.0– 7.0) | 4.7±1.1 (1.0–6.8) | 4.8±1.1 (1.0–7.0) |
NOTE. Values are mean ± SD, %, mean ± SD (range), or as otherwise indicated. FIM self-care ratings were calculated by the sum of 6 items (ie, eating, grooming, bathing, upper body dressing, lower body dressing, toileting) and divided by the number of items. FIM mobility ratings were calculated by the sum of 5 items (ie, bed/wheelchair transfer, toilet transfer, tub/shower transfer, walk/wheelchair, stairs) and divided by the number of items.
Abbreviations: GED, general equivalency diploma; HS, high school; NA, not applicable.
*
P<.001.
†
P<.01.
‡
P<.05.