Follow us
According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center at UAB as of 2019, 17,730 new SCI cases occur each year and between 249,000 and 363,000 people are currently living with SCI in the United States.
- Approximately 291,000 Americans are spinal cord injured
- 39.5% of spinal cord injured individuals are considered paraplegic and 59.9% quadriplegic
- Approximately 17,730 new injuries occur each year
- 78% of new cases are male
- Nearly half (47.6%) of all injuries occur between the ages of 16 and 30
- The average age of spinal cord injured person is 43
- 87.4% of all SCI individuals are discharged from hospitals to a private home, 6.7% are discharged to nursing homes
Source: SCI Info Pages
Donate here
Costs of SCI
- Length of initial hospitalization following injury in acute care units: 11 days
- Average stay in rehabilitation unit: 31 days
- Percentage of SCI individuals who are covered by private health insurance at time of injury 49.7%
- Percentage of SCI individuals unemployed ten years after injury 77%
- First year expenses for paraplegics: $550,381
- First year expenses for quadriplegics C1-C4: $1,129,302
- First year expenses for quadriplegics C5-C8: $816,019
- Average lifetime costs for paraplegics, age of injury 25: $2,450,234
- Avg. lifetime costs for quadriplegics C1-C4, age of injury 25: $5 million
- Avg. lifetime costs for quadriplegics C5-C8, age of injury 25: $3.6 million
Average charges (2018 dollars) Note: Specific cases are considerably higher.
Spinal cord injury facts:
source: World Health Organization
Spinal cord injury is associated with a risk of developing secondary conditions that can be debilitating and even life-threatening—e.g. deep vein thrombosis, urinary tract infections, muscle spasms, osteoporosis, pressure ulcers, chronic pain, and respiratory complications. Acute care, rehabilitation services and ongoing health maintenance are essential for prevention and management of these conditions.
Spinal cord injury may render a person dependent on caregivers. Assistive technology is often required to facilitate mobility, communication, self-care or domestic activities. An estimated 20-30% of people with spinal cord injury show clinically significant signs of depression, which in turn has a negative impact on improvements in functioning and overall health.
Misconceptions, negative attitudes and physical barriers to basic mobility result in the exclusion of many people from full participation in society. Children with spinal cord injury are less likely than their peers to start school, and once enrolled, less likely to advance. Adults with spinal cord injury face similar barriers to economic participation, with a global unemployment rate of more than 60%.