TRAUMATIC SPINAL-CORD INJURIES IN THE RURAL REGION OF TAIWAN - AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY IN HUALIEN COUNTY, 1986-1990

In order to survey the epidemiological characteristics of traumatic sp inal cord injuries (SCI) in Hualien county, a retrospective study was conducted from January 1986 to December 1990 in four local general hos pitals. During this period, 135 traumatic SCI patients were identified and 99 of them were residents of Hualien county. The estimated annual incidence of traumatic SCI in Hualien county was 56.1 per million pop ulation. As a result of injury 36 patients were tetraparetic 33 tetrap legic, 12 paraparetic and 18 paraplegic. The male/female ratio was 4:1 . The mean age of onset for male patients was 44 years, and that for f emale patients was 6 years. The major causes of SCI were traffic accid ent (61.6%) followed by accidental falls (23.3%). The average duration of hospitalisation ranged from 62 days in paraparetics to 132 days in tetraplegics. Ten patients died of respiratory failure or sepsis, and the mortality rate was 10.1%. Our data revealed that traumatic SCI wa s prevalent in Hualien county in comparison with epidemiological studi es elsewhere. The special population composition of Hualien county and the preponderance of the motorcycle as a transportation vehicle in th is area might result in its unique epidemiological characteristics.