Acute stress disorder in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury: risk factors and coping strategies

Background: Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) exerts a profound negative impact on patients' psychological well-being and daily life. The objective of this study is to dissect the comorbidity of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) among TSCI patients, identify its contributing factors, and construct a predictive model to provide empirical support for clinical treatment and nursing care. Methods: Patients with TSCI admitted to our hospital between January 2022 and September 2024 were enrolled in this study. We collected and compared general demographic and disease-related data between patients who developed ASD and those who did not. Results: A cohort of 224 individuals with TSCI was enrolled in the study, revealing an incidence rate of ASD to be 33.93%. Age (r=0.562), gender (r=0.489), monthly household income (r=0.585), and injury severity (r=0.722) were correlated with ASD. Age ≤45 years (OR=2.606, 95%CI: 1.985-3.215), female gender (OR=2.213, 95%CI: 2.004-2.612), monthly household income less than 5000 Renminbi (RMB) (OR=3.027, 95%CI: 2.677-3.431), and level A injury severity (OR=3.673, 95%CI: 3.115-4.066) were the independent predictors of ASD among patients with TSCI. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were 0.788 (0.710, 0.852) for the predication model, indicating good sensitivity and specificity. Conclusion: ASD is a common occurrence in patients with TSCI, with a multitude of contributing factors. The predictive model established in this study aids in the risk assessment of ASD in patients with TSCI.