Examining Trends in Black-White Disparity in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries among Pregnancy-Related Hospitalizations in the United States

Abstract

The proportion of women with traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries (tSCI) is increasing globally, yet there is a dearth of data in the literature on female-specific health conditions, such as pregnancy, in this population. In this retrospective cohort study, we sought to fill the gap in the literature regarding racial differences in the trends of tSCI among hospitalized pregnant women. Using Nationwide Inpatient Sample data, all hospitalizations among pregnant women with tSCI were identified. Joinpoint regression analyses were utilized to examine the temporal trends in the rates of tSCI among the entire pregnant hospitalized population in the US during the 10-year study period of 2009-2018. We compared the tSCI hospitalization trends between non-Hispanic (NH) Blacks and NH-Whites. Overall, there was an increase in the rates of tSCI in the entire pregnant population, during the study period (Average annual percentage change [AAPC]: 7.1, 95% CI: 1.2, 13.4). The rates of tSCI were consistently higher in NH-Blacks in comparison to NH-Whites. More public health policies should be directed at preventing acute tSCIs during pregnancy and physicians should understand how to meet the needs of pregnant patients with tSCI, especially those who belong to racial/ethnic minority groups.