Table 1.
Characteristics for the Total Study Cohort and Comparison of Those Who Had Surgery with Those Who Did Not
| Variable | Total elderly cohort |
Surgical group |
Non-surgical group |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 1340 | n = 826 | n = 192 | ||
| Age at injury (years); mean (SD) | 74.6 (7.1) | 73.6 (6.5) | 76.2 (8.1) | 0.0002 |
| Male; n (%) | 957 (71.4) | 605 (73.2) | 124 (64.6) | 0.0165 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index; mean (SD) | 1.0 (2.0) | 1.4 (1.5) | 1.7 (1.7) | 0.0122 |
| Mechanism of injury; n (%) | 0.1377 | |||
| Falls Transport Sports Other |
1018 (77.4) 213 (16.2) 31 (2.4) 53 (4.0) |
629 (76.7) 136 (16.6) 21 (2.6) 34 (4.1) |
160 (83.8) 24 (12.6) 4 (2.1) 3 (1.6) |
|
| Injury Severity Score; n (%) | 0.1871 | |||
| ≤25 >25 |
428 (72.7) 161 (27.3) |
263 (69.4) 116 (30.6) |
93 (75.6) 30 (24.4) |
|
| Neurological injury severity (AIS); n (%) | 0.0304 | |||
| AIS A AIS B AIS C AIS D |
234 (22.2) 72 (6.8) 252 (23.9) 496 (47.1) |
148 (22.2) 56 (8.4) 168 (25.3) 293 (44.1) |
27 (17.9) 7 (4.6) 31 (20.5) 86 (60.0) |
|
| Neurological injury level; n (%) | 0.0009 | |||
| High cervical (C1-C4) Low cervical (C5-T1) Thoracolumbar (T2-L1) |
461 (46.4) 402 (40.5) 130 (13.1) |
265 (42.9) 260 (42.1) 93 (15.0) |
86 (59.3) 48 (33.1) 11 (7.6) |
|
| AOSpine classification; n (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| Type A Type B Type C |
330 (43.3) 243 (31.9) 189 (24.8) |
237 (40.6) 179 (30.7) 167 (28.6) |
88 (52.7) 59 (35.3) 20 (12.0) |
|
| Arrival at RHSCIR facility; n (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| Directly Via another facility |
302 (39.8) 457 (60.2) |
206 (34.7) 387 (65.3) |
86 (57.0) 65 (43.0) |
|
| Time from injury to RHSCIR facility; n (%) | 0.0931 | |||
| ≤12h >12h |
621 (52.1) 571 (47.9) |
396 (52.4) 360 (47.6) |
100 (59.5) 68 (40.5) |
|
| Time from injury to surgery; n (%) | N/A | |||
| ≤24h | 200 (28.7) | 200 (28.7) | N/A | |
| >24h | 497 (71.3) | 497 (71.3) | N/A | |
| Had ICU stay; n (%) | 605 (58.7) | 431 (63.4) | 82 (53.6) | 0.0245 |
| ICU stay (days); median (IQR) | 3.0 (12.0) | 4.0 (14.0) | 1.2 (6.0) | 0.0001 |
| Had tracheostomy; n (%) | 195 (17.3) | 158 (19.6) | 10 (5.6) | <0.0001 |
| Had ventilator; n (%) | 379 (34.1) | 290 (36.4) | 34 (19.1) | <0.0001 |
| Had PEG tube; n (%) | 92 (8.3) | 77 (9.8) | 11 (6.2) | <0.0001 |
| Acute LOS (days); median (IQR) | 24.0 (35.0) | 27.5 (36.5) | 14.0 (24.5) | <0.0001 |
| Attended rehabilitation; n (%) | 663 (49.5) | 468 (56.7) | 83 (43.2) | 0.0008 |
| Discharge destination; n (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| Home Long-term care Hospital Morgue |
569 (43.0) 155 (11.7) 385 (29.1) 215 (16.2) |
388 (47.2) 105 (12.8) 251 (30.5) 78 (9.5) |
79 (42.0) 19 (10.1) 39 (20.7) 51 (27.1) |
|
| Time from injury to death (days); median (IQR) | 15.0 (41.0) | 30.0 (60.0) | 7.0 (16.0) | <.0001 |
| Time from admission to death (days); median (IQR) | 14.0 (37.0) | 26.5 (48.0) | 6.0 (12.0) | <.0001 |
| Time from surgery to death (days); median (IQR) | 24.5 (50.0) | 24.5 (50.0) | N/A | N/A |
p values in bold indicate statistical significance.
SD, standard deviation; AIS, American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale; RHSCIR, Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry; ICU, intensive care unit; IQR, interquartile range; PEG, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy; LOS, length of stay.