Current epidemiological profile and characteristics of traumatic and nontraumatic spinal cord injury in Jinan, China: A two-center retrospective observational study

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a highly disabling neurological condition associated with long-term functional impairment and substantial healthcare needs. In Jinan, hospital-based evidence directly comparing traumatic SCI (TSCI) and nontraumatic SCI (NTSCI) within the same regional tertiary-care system remains limited. This study aimed to describe and compare their epidemiological and clinical profiles to inform targeted prevention and hospital-based care planning. We conducted a 2-center, hospital-based retrospective observational study of patients with SCI admitted between 2015 and 2024. Categorical variables were summarized as n (%) and compared between TSCI and NTSCI using Pearson chi-square tests or Fisher–Freeman–Halton exact tests, as appropriate. Because length of stay was markedly right-skewed, it was summarized as median (interquartile range [IQR]) and compared using the Mann–Whitney U test. All comparisons were two-sided and unadjusted. A total of 1334 patients with SCI were included (1134 TSCI and 200 NTSCI). TSCI showed a greater male predominance than NTSCI (78.66% vs 56.50%, P < .001), and age-group distributions also differed ( P < .001). Falls (46.03%) and traffic accidents (40.65%) were the leading TSCI mechanisms; electric bicycle-related crashes accounted for the largest share of traffic-related TSCI (191/461, 41.43%). The leading NTSCI etiologies were neoplasm (33.00%), demyelinating disease (20.00%), infectious disease (17.00%), vascular disease (15.50%), and degenerative disease (14.50%). American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale distributions differed between groups ( P < .001). Median length of stay was 12 days (IQR = 8–21) for TSCI and 46 days (IQR = 33.75–61) for NTSCI ( P < .001). A primary in-hospital complication was recorded in 78.31% of TSCI and 80.00% of NTSCI patients ( P = .591); however, the distribution of primary complication categories differed overall ( P = .040). Urinary tract infection was more frequent in TSCI (24.78% vs 16.00%, P = .007), whereas pulmonary infection was more frequent in NTSCI (12.26% vs 18.00%, P = .027). Within these 2 tertiary hospitals in Jinan, TSCI and NTSCI showed different demographic, neurological, treatment, hospitalization, and primary complication patterns. TSCI was characterized by prominent fall- and traffic-related injury mechanisms, whereas NTSCI showed heterogeneous etiologies and substantially longer hospitalization. These hospital-based findings support targeted prevention priorities and differentiated clinical care pathways but should not be interpreted as population-level incidence estimates or as independent effects of traumatic versus nontraumatic etiology.