Incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury worldwide: A systematic review, data integration, and update

Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) is a severe condition that can be prevented, but it has high rates of sickness and death. Because there is no cure, it's important to understand TSCI's epidemiology to create effective prevention plans. Previous SCI reports varied due to different data collection, case definitions, and country socio-economic structures. The InSCI study is a good example in this regard. This review updates a prior study on worldwide TSCI incidence up to April 2013, assessing new publications and compliance with guidelines to enhance knowledge on TSCI incidence.

• 1
  The review identified TSCI incidence data for eight new countries, expanding knowledge to 49 countries. The TSCI incidence ranges from 3.3 to 195.4 cases per million (cpm) in subnational studies.
• 2
  National studies show TSCI incidence ranging from 5.1 to 150.48 cpm. However, many studies were low quality, lacking consistent case selection due to unclear TSCI definitions and ascertainment methods.
• 3
  The absence of a standard form of reporting TSCI hinders the comparability of data across different data sources. Use of various definitions for TSCI may lead to heterogeneity in reports.