Patient demographics in unmatched and propensity score-matched groups
| Unmatched group | Propensity-matched group | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control (n=2101) | High-dose methyl-prednisolone (n=824) | p Value | Control (n=812) | High-dose methyl-prednisolone (n=812) | p Value | |
| Sex (males, n (%)) | 1570 (74.7) | 645 (78.3) | 0.044 | 650 (80.0) | 634 (78.1) | 0.329 |
| Age (years, n (%)) | ||||||
| ≤59 | 786 (37.4) | 318 (38.6) | 0.022 | 292 (36.0) | 313 (38.5) | 0.674 |
| 60–69 | 513 (24.4) | 219 (26.6) | 218 (26.8) | 216 (26.6) | ||
| 70–79 | 456 (21.7) | 198 (24.0) | 213 (26.2) | 195 (24.0) | ||
| ≥80 | 346 (16.5) | 89 (10.5) | 89 (11.0) | 88 (10.8) | ||
| Charlson Comorbidity Index (n (%)) | ||||||
| 1 | 1414 (67.3) | 456 (55.3) | <0.001 | 464 (57.1) | 456 (56.2) | 0.638 |
| 2 | 508 (24.2) | 287 (34.8) | 279 (34.4) | 276 (34.0) | ||
| ≥3 | 179 (8.5) | 81 (9.8) | 69 (8.5) | 80 (9.9) | ||
| Japan Coma Scale at admission (n (%)) | ||||||
| 0 (alert) | 1811 (86.2) | 689 (83.6) | 0.085 | 692 (85.2) | 681 (83.9) | 0.622 |
| 1–3 (drowsy) | 200 (9.5) | 99 (12.0) | 95 (11.7) | 97 (11.9) | ||
| 10–30 (somnolence) | 36 (1.7) | 20 (2.4) | 15 (1.8) | 18 (2.2) | ||
| 100–300 (coma) | 54 (2.6) | 16 (1.9) | 10 (1.2) | 16 (2.0) | ||
| Cervical spinal surgery | 221 (10.5) | 189 (22.9) | <0.001 | 192 (23.6) | 178 (21.9) | 0.408 |
| Preoperative length of stay (days, median (IQR)) | 8 (1–17) | 8 (1–18) | 0.838 | 8 (2–18) | 8 (1–17) | 0.683 |
| Use of tracheostomy | 55 (2.6) | 51 (6.2) | <0.001 | 38 (4.7) | 48 (5.9) | 0.268 |
| Hospital volume (per year, median (IQR)) | 7 (4–12) | 8 (4–13) | 0.004 | 7 (4–13) | 7.5 (4–13) | 0.188 |