A study of the spinal cord injured population of the Chios island of Greece

• Main Authors: Ismini Serpanou, Maria Psychogiou, Andreas Pavlakis, Spyros G. Fountoukis, Georgios Giaglis, Despina Sapountzi-Krepia, Ioannis Koutsodontis, Maria Lavdaniti, Markos Sgantzos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Professor Despina Sapountzi-Krepia 2011-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Caring Sciences
• Subjects: spinal cord injuries; epidemiology; public health; Greece
• Online Access: http://internationaljournalofcaringsciences.org/docs/Vol4_Issue2_05_Koutsodontis.pdf
• ISSN: 1791-5201; 1792-037X

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the epidemiological profile of the spinal cord injuredpopulation living on the Greek island Chios.Methods: We interviewed the regional spinal cord injured population. Participants were recruited from theisland’s capital and its 52 villages. The target population was all the SCI individuals living on Chios Island (n=38),out of which 34 (response rate was 89%) patients were interviewed in their homes using an especially designedquestionnaire.Results: The mean age of the subjects at the time of the injury was 43 and the majority (n=23, 67.6%) were male.The employment status of the participants changed after the injury from 64.7% (n=22) to 32.4% (n=11). Trafficaccidents were the cause of the SCI for 44.8%, with a significant difference from the other causes of injury(p<0.004). The most common level of injury was thoracic-lumbar (23.5%, n=8). The duration of hospitalizationwas on average 4.6 ± 3.9 months followed by treatment in rehabilitation centres. Most participants faced secondarycomplications which correlated significantly with age (r=0.372 p=0.03).Conclusions: The findings revealed that traffic accidents were the main reason for SCI. More research is neededon SCIs in Greece and the development of a surveillance system for SCIs is suggested.