Impact of minority status following traumatic spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: To interpret the data from the Spinal Cord Injury-Model Systems as it applies to demographics, incidence and functional outcomes of minority patients with spinal cord injury.

DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of patients admitted to acute inpatient rehabilitation Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Centers.

RESULTS: Descriptive statistics including means, standard deviations, and proportions were computed for all relevant variables. Participants were grouped into two categories for purposes of analysis, non-minorities (white) and minorities, who were >90% African American. Differential statistics were used for comparisons with regard to demographics, etiology, sponsor of care, length of stay, charges, ASIA Motor Index scores, and FIM scores. Categorical data was analyzed using chi-square analyses while continuous data were analyzed using ANOVA procedures. Analyses revealed significant differences between minorities and non-minorities in terms of age at injury, gender, marital status, employment status, education level, health insurance provider, injury severity, etiology, and discharge disposition.

CONCLUSION: Analysis of the data indicates that violence is the leading single cause of spinal cord injury in minority patients admitted to the model systems centers. The majority of patients who sustained spinal cord injury secondary to violence were minorities with the following demographics: young, single, unemployed males, with less than a high school education, residing in an urban area.