Spinal Cord Iinjury Facts and Figures

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- About Spinal Cord Injuries -

Facts and Figures

According to the Spinal Cord Injury Information Network:

· There are approximately 11,000 new cases of spinal cord injury each year.

· There are between 183,000 and 230,000 people with spinal cord injuries living in the United States.

· Most spinal cord injuries occur in young adults. 55% of those injured are between 15 and 30 years of age. The average age at injury is 32.1 years old.

· Since 1990, 80.5% of people with spinal cord injuries are males.

· Since 1990, 59.1% were Caucasian, while 27.6% were African-American, 7.7% were Hispanic, 0.4% were American Indian, 2.1% were Asian (and 0.5% were unknown and 2.5% were unclassified).

· Since 1990, motor vehicle crashes accounted for 38.5% of spinal cord injuries. The next largest contributor is acts of violence (primarily gunshot wounds), followed by falls and recreational sporting activities. The proportion of injuries due to motor vehicle crashes and sporting activities has declined while the proportion of injuries from acts of violence and falls has increased steadily since 1973.

· More than half of those with spinal cord injuries were employed at the time of their injury.

· 88.7% of all persons with SCI who are discharged alive from the system are sent to a private, non-institutional residence (in most cases their homes before injury.)

· 53.4% of those injured were single at the time of injury. For those who were married, the likelihood of divorce was higher compared to the uninjured population. For those who were single, the likelihood of getting married was slightly lower when compared to the uninjured population.

· Life expectancy for persons with SCI continues to increase, but are still somewhat below life expectancy for those with no spinal cord injury. Mortality rates are significantly higher during the first year after injury than during subsequent years, particularly for severely injured persons.

· Since 1973, the causes of death that appear to have the greatest impact on reduced life expectancy for this population are pneumonia, pulmonary emboli and septicemia.

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