Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of Subset of Study Population with Fracture Nonunion
| Patient characteristics | Patients without fracture nonunion (n = 1746) | Patients with fracture nonunion (n = 106) | p Value a |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical characteristics | |||
| Age (years), mean ± SD | 57.45 ± 12.67 | 61.91 ± 12.01 | 0.0004 b |
| Race, n (%) | 0.7436 c | ||
| White | 1228 (70.33) | 75 (70.75) | |
| Black | 327 (18.73) | 17 (16.04) | |
| Other | 42 (2.41) | 4 (3.77) | |
| Missing | 149 (8.53) | 10 (9.43) | |
| Sex, n (%) | 0.2768 c | ||
| Male | 1670 (95.65) | 99 (93.4) | |
| Female | 34 (4.35) | 7 (6.6) | |
| Body mass index, n (%) | 0.1738 c | ||
| Underweight | 109 (6.24) | 2 (1.89) | |
| Normal | 634 (36.31) | 38 (35.85) | |
| Overweight | 587 (33.62) | 35 (33.02) | |
| Obese | 247 (21.59) | 31 (29.25) | |
| Missing | 21 (1.2) | 0 (0) | |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | 0.3651 c | ||
| Diabetes mellitus | 426 (24.40) | 30 (28.3) | 0.9516 c |
| Chronic kidney disease | 129 (7.39) | 8 (7.55) | 0.3574 c |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 196 (11.23) | 15 (14.15) | |
| Medication use, n (%) | |||
| Bisphosphonates | 152 (8.71) | 16 (15.09) | 0.0262 c |
| Anticonvulsants | 777 (44.5) | 51 (48.11) | 0.4678 c |
| Benzodiazepines | 848 (48.57) | 56 (52.83) | 0.3940 c |
| Opioids | 1196 (68.5) | 73 (68.87) | 0.9368 c |
| Corticosteroids | 230 (13.17) | 14 (13.21) | 0.9918 c |
| Antidepressants | 940 (53.84) | 58 (54.72) | 0.8600 c |
| Anticoagulants | 273 (15.64) | 24 (22.64) | 0.0563 c |
| SCI‐related characteristics | |||
| Etiology of injury, n (%) | 0.0546 c | ||
| Traumatic | 1239 (70.96) | 75 (70.75) | |
| Non‐traumatic | 470 (26.92) | 25 (25.58) | |
| Missing | 37 (2.12) | 6 (5.66) | |
| Level of injury, n (%) | 0.1708 c | ||
| Paraplegia | 911 (52.18) | 62 (60.78) | |
| Tetraplegia | 799 (45.76) | 40 (39.22) | |
| Missing | 36 (2.06) | 4 (3.77) | |
| Extent of injury, n (%) | 0.1909 c | ||
| Complete | 818 (46.85) | 58 (54.72) | |
| Incomplete | 696 (39.86) | 39 (36.79) | |
| Missing | 232 (13.29) | 9 (8.49) | |
| ASIA impairment scale | 0.0608 c | ||
| A | 509 (29.15) | 41 (38.68) | |
| B | 122 (6.99) | 8 (7.55) | |
| C | 116 (6.64) | 11 (10.38) | |
| D | 200 (11.45) | 7 (6.6) | |
| Missing | 799 (45.76) | 39 (36.79) | |
| Duration of SCID, mean ± SD | 19.71 ± 14.55 | 23.46 ± 15.60 | 0.0103 b |
| Fracture‐related characteristics | |||
| Primary fracture treatment, n (%) | |||
| Surgical | 168 (9.62) | 14 (13.21) | 0.2286 c |
| Non‐surgical | 1578 (90.38) | 92 (86.79) | |
| Fracture site, n (%) | <0.0001 c | ||
| Distal tibia/fibula | 769 (44.04) | 28 (26.42) | |
| Proximal tibia/fibula | 187 (10.71) | 9 (8.49) | |
| Distal femur | 171 (9.79) | 49 (46.23) | |
| Proximal femur | 275 (15.75) | 7 (6.60) | |
| Hip | 260 (22.73) | 13 (12.26) | |
| Fracture type; unknown type categorized as closed, n (%) | 0.4640 c | ||
| Closed | 1714 (98.17) | 103 (97.17) | |
| Open | 32 (1.83) | 3 (2.83) | |
| Fracture type; unknown type categorized as open, n (%) | <0.0001 c | ||
| Closed | 1714 (98.17) | 96 (90.57) | |
| Open | 32 (1.83) | 10 (9.43) | |
ASIA = American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale; SCID = spinal cord injuries and disorders.
a
Bolded p values indicate the result was significant at the 0.05 level.
b
Two‐sample t test.
c
Pearson's chi‐square.