FACTS AND FIGURES
INCIDENCE
It is estimated that the annual incidence of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), not including those who die at the scene of the accident, is approximately 40 cases per million population in the U. S. or approximately 11,000 new cases each year.
PREVALENCE
The number of people living with SCI in the U.S. since June '06 has been estimated at 253,000 people. These statistics are not derived from the National SCI Database. The statistics, can be found in the Journal Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. They were published in 1999 and in November 2004.
AGE AT INJURY
SCI primarily affects young adults. From 1973 to 1979, the average age at injury was 28.7 years, and most injuries occurred between the ages of 16 and 30. However, as the median age of the general population of the United States has increased by approximately 8 years since the mid-1970’s, the average age at injury has also steadily increased over time. Since 2000, the average age at injury is 38.0 years. Moreover, the percentage of persons older than 60 years of age at injury has increased from 4.7% to 11.5% since 2000. Other possible reasons for the observed trend toward older age at injury might be, survival rates of older persons at the scene of the accident, or age specific incidence rates.
GENDER
Since 2000, 77.8% of spinal cord injuries reported to the national database have occurred among males. Over the history of the database, there has been a slight trend toward a decreasing percentage of males. Prior to 1980, 81.8% of new spinal cord injuries occurred among males.
ETIOLOGY
Since 2000, motor vehicle accidents account for 46.9% of reported SCI cases. The next most common cause of SCI is falls, followed by acts of violence (primarily gunshot wounds), and recreational sporting accidents. The proportion of injuries that are due to sports has decreased over time while the proportion of injuries due to falls has increased. Acts of violence caused 13.3% of spinal cord injuries prior to 1980, and peaked between 1990 and 1999 at 24.8% before declining to only 13.7% since 2000. A quadriplegic person is someone that has total paralysis of the appendages, only allowing movement from the neck up.
OCCUPATIONAL STATUS
More than half (64.2%) of those persons with SCI admitted to a Model System reported being employed at the time of their injury. The post-injury employment picture is better among persons with paraplegia than among their tetraplegic counterparts. By post-injury year 10, 32.4% of persons with paraplegia are employed. However, the outlook is much dimmer for quadriplegics, except at our facility.