Several time indicators and Barthel index relationships at different spinal cord injury levels.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Objectives: To compare different injury levels in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients with respect to operation intervention time (OIT), rehabilitation intervention time (RIT), average length of hospital stay (ALOS) and Barthel Index (BI) on admission and discharge.

Setting: China.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 95 SCI cases who received treatment in our rehabilitation center from 2010-2013.

Results: SCI resulted from high falls (55.79%), traffic accidents (28.42%), diseases (8.42%) and low falls (7.37%). We found no correlations between OIT, RIT, ALOS and discharge BI for all spinal segments (P>0.05). The OIT of thoracic SCI and lumbar SCI correlated negatively with RIT (P<0.01). The OIT of lumbar SCI correlated negatively with ALOS (P<0.05).

Conclusion: BI had no correlation with OIT, RIT or ALOS for all spinal segments; the OIT of thoracic and lumbar SCI correlated negatively with RIT; and the OIT of lumbar SCI correlated negatively with ALOS.