Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of the cohort.

Age, mean (SD) years

48.0 (20.1)

48.9 (19.7)

0.68

Sex

0.69

 Male

113 (75.8%)

143 (77.7%)

 Female

36 (24.2%)

41 (22.3%)

Charlson Comorbidity Index weight

0.48

 0

86 (57.7%)

109 (59.2%)

 1

35 (23.5%)

49 (26.6%)

 >1

28 (18.8%)

26 (14.1%)

Quintile of socioeconomic status

0.14

 1 (most disadvantaged)

21 (14.5%)

41 (22.9%)

 2

26 (17.9%)

33 (18.4%)

 3

35 (24.1%)

31 (17.3%)

 4

24 (16.6%)

37 (20.7%)

 5 (least disadvantaged)

39 (26.9%)

37 (20.7%)

Remoteness of residence

0.99

 Major cities

90 (62.1%)

110 (61.8%)

 Inner regional

41 (28.3%)

51 (28.7%)

 Outer regional and remote

14 (9.7%)

17 (9.6%)

Cause of injury

0.83

 Transport

57 (38.3%)

71 (38.6%)

 Low fall (≤1 m or from standing height)

31 (20.8%)

44 (23.9%)

 High fall (>1 m)

37 (24.8%)

45 (24.5%)

 Other cause

24 (16.1%)

24 (13.0%)

Intent of injury

0.15

 Unintentional

145 (97.3%)

173 (94.0%)

 Intentional or intent could not be determined

4 (2.7%)

11 (6.0%)

Compensable case

0.06

 No

110 (75.3%)

120 (65.9%)

 Yes

36 (24.7%)

62 (34.1%)

Nature of SCI

0.51

 Cervical - incomplete/contusion

76 (51.0%)

83 (45.1%)

 Cervical - complete

26 (17.4%)

41 (22.3%)

 Thoracic - incomplete/contusion

17 (11.4%)

17 (9.2%)

 Thoracic or lumbar - complete

30 (20.1%)

43 (23.4%)

ISS, median (IQR)

20 (16–29)

25 (17–33)

0.002

Inter-hospital transfer

0.29

 No

16 (10.7%)

27 (14.7%)

 Yes

133 (89.3%)

157 (85.3%)

Acute care definitive hospital

0.02

 Major trauma Service

6 (4.0%)

20 (10.9%)

 Victorian Spinal Cord Service

143 (96.0%)

164 (89.1%)

Intensive care unit stay

0.08

 No

81 (54.7%)

118 (64.1%)

 Yes

67 (45.3%)

66 (35.9%)

Length of stay, median (IQR) days

18.7 (10.8–29.1)

17.7 (9.3–33.9)

0.90

Discharge destination

0.35

 Inpatient rehabilitation

133 (89.3%)

158 (85.9%)

 Other

16 (10.7%)

26 (14.1%)