Socioeconomic consequences of traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injuries: a Danish nationwide register-based study

Study design A nationwide population-based register study. Objectives To investigate the socioeconomic consequences of traumatic (tSCI) and non-traumatic (ntSCI) spinal cord injuries (SCI) in relation to health care costs, risk of job loss, and divorce. Setting Denmark. Methods All survivors admitted for specialized SCI rehabilitation from 2008 to 2018 were included ( n = 1751), together with their relatives ( n = 3084). Control groups for the SCI group ( n = 8139) and their relatives ( n = 15,921) were identified. Data on socioeconomics up to 2 years before and up to 4 years after the injury year were included. Results Survivors of tSCI and ntSCI had significantly increased health care costs 2 years before injury compared to their controls, and increased health care cost was maintained 4 years after the injury (all p values < 0.0001). The SCI group had significantly increased risk of job loss (OR = 9.26; 95% CI: 7.70–11.15) and higher risk of divorce (OR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.08–1.87) the 3 following years after injury compared to controls, but risk of divorce was only significant for the ntSCI group (OR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.09–2.29). No significant differences on health care cost and job loss between the group of relatives of SCI survivors and their controls were found, except for the relatives ( n = 1604) of SCI survivors <18 years old, where a higher risk of job loss was found (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 0.97–2.1). Conclusion These results emphasize that socioeconomic consequences for survivors of both tSCI and ntSCI are pervasive and long-lasting.