Characteristics of the health conditions of old patients with spinal cord injury.

The state of health of old patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) was investigated to clarify the disorders that they are presently suffering from. A questionnaire was sent by mail to 668 patients with SCI living in western Japan. Valid answers were returned from 448 (67%), and they were divided into a young group (160 patients aged 18-39 years), middle-aged group (193 patients aged 40-59 years), and elderly group (95 patients aged 60-73). About 30% in the young group answered that they were ill or worrying about their health. This percentage was about 60% in the middle-aged and elderly groups. According to disease types, none of the young group had urological diseases except urological impairment or cardiovascular diseases, but many of the elderly group had urological tract infection, kidney diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and digestive diseases. Decubitus ulcer was reported in all groups. Urological diseases and decubitus ulcer were considered to be characteristic ailments of individuals with SCI. The elderly group was also characterized by a high incidence of adult diseases such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Therefore, the types of diseases and their frequency are considered to be different in older patients with SCI compared with the aged population in general because of the characteristic conditions of SCI in addition to adult diseases.