Epidemiology of spinal cord injury in children and adolescents

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Study describes the unique aspects of the epidemiology of childhood-onset spinal cord injury among children and adolescents. The characteristics of subjects with SCI included in either the Shriners Hospitals for Children database or the National SCI Statistical Center database from 1973 through 2002 were evaluated based on age at the time of injury: (1) 0 to 5 years, (2) 6 to 12 years, (3) 13 to 15 years, (4) 16 to 21 years, and (5) 22 years and older. Males comprised a consistently decreasing proportion of new cases of SCI with advancing age, ranging from 51 percent among those aged 0 to 5 years to 83 percent among those between 16 and 21 years of age. The proportion of SCI due to motor vehicle crashes was higher among children and adolescents than in adults. Injuries due to sports, violence, and medical or surgical complications were more significant in teenagers than in adults. Violence was the leading cause of SCI among African American and Hispanic teenage males, whereas vehicular crashes are more common among African American and Hispanic men 22 years of age and older.

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