The Aspaym National Federation (Association of People with Spinal Cord Injury and other Physical Disabilities) has published data on new spinal cord injuries during 2021, based on the two reference centers in Spain: the Institut Guttmann in Barcelona and the Hospital Nacional de Paraplegicos de Toledo.
In the Toledo case, last year it received 258 new patients with acute spinal cord injury. Of these, almost half were due to medical causes such as degenerative, tumor or vascular diseases. The rest were due to traumatic causes: 59 due to accidental falls, 39 due to traffic accidents (20 motorcycle accidents, 16 vehicle accidents, two bike accidents and one run over), 21 due to sporting accidents (eight diving, seven bike accidents, two paragliding accidents). and one climbing, climbing wall, quad and surfing) and 13 for failed suicide attempts.
The president of Aspaym, Mayte Gallego, considers that these statistics “demonstrate that road safety continues to have a clear relevance.” “Campaigns do a lot to raise awareness, but we have to continue conveying that the most vulnerable people, whether driving a motorcycle, a bicycle or the new personal mobility vehicles, are the ones who suffer the worst consequences of a traffic accident,” she explains. .
Spinal cord injuries due to failed suicide attempts have also increased. “The data is worrying,” acknowledges Gallego, who adds: “Unwanted loneliness is one of the major risk factors for suicide, which increases in people with disabilities.” Likewise, the president of Aspaym refers to the increase in sports bike accidents, which are an “emerging trend”.
In Toledo, 71 percent of patients admitted in 2021 were men, 62 percent were over the age of 45, and more than half suffered from paraplegia. This hospital receives spinal cord injuries from Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León, although not all are necessarily referred to its facilities.
