These statistics are provided by the National
Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center.
Incidence
The annual incidence of spinal cord
injuries in the United States, not including
those who die at the scene of the accident,
is approximately 40 cases per million population or
approximately 11,000 new cases per year.
Prevalence
Between 183,000 and 230,000 individuals
in the United States are living with spinal
cord injuries today.
Age at Injury
SCI primarily affects young adults. Fifty-five percent of spinal cord injuries
occur to individuals who are between 16 and 30 years old. The average age at
injury is 32.1 years old; the most frequent age of injury is 19 years old.
Causes
Since 1990 the major causes of spinal
cord injuries are:
|
Motor
vehicle crashes
|
38.5%
|
|
Violence
|
24.5%
|
|
Falls
|
21.9%
|
|
Sports
|
7.2%
|
|
Other
|
7.9%
|
Gender
80.5% of individuals with spinal cord
injuries are male, 19.5% are female.
Ethnicity
Among those injured since 1990:
59.1% are Caucasian
27.6% are African-American
7.7% are Hispanic
2.1% are Asian-American
0.4% are American Indian
0.6% are unknown
2.5 % are unclassified
Cost
The average yearly health care costs and
living expenses that are directly attributable
to spinal care injury (in 2000 dollars) are
$277,625 for the first year and $44,391 for
each subsequent year.
