Spinal cord injury affects millions of Americans and their families. For many of us, the disability affects every aspect of our lives.
Out of the more than five million Americans living with paralysis, one in four are survivors of a spinal cord injury or disease.
How many spinal cord injuries are survived each year? Who do they affect and why do they occur? Which injuries are more common? What are the odds of recovery and rehabilitation?
Recent statistics shed some light into SCI in the U.S.
Who is Being Injured?
Every year approximately 17,700 Americans acquire an SCI. For every one million Americans, 54 live with an SCI.
According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center at UAB, men are injured more often with 78% being male. The average age of injury for a man is 43 but they are most at risk in young adulthood (20-29 years) and older age (70+).
Females are most at risk in adolescence (15-19) and older age (60+).
Aged 16 to 30? You’re more likely to get an SCI than other age groups. 47.6% of injuries occur during this period of young adulthood.
Finally, 10% to 20% of SCI survivors in the U.S. are military veterans.
How Do Most Spinal Cord Injuries Happen?
People under 45 typically are injured in car crashes. For SCI survivors over 45, it’s usually a fall.
In 2022 the most common causes of SCI were automobile crashes (39.3%), followed by falls (31.8%), violence (13.2%), sports (8%), and medical/surgery (4.3%).
What Types of SCIs Are Common?
Spinal cord injuries are classified as complete or incomplete. With an incomplete injury there is still sensory and motor function. With a complete injury nothing is preserved below the level of injury. The Miami Project put out these statistics in 2020:
- 8% of all injuries are incomplete
- 6% of all injuries result in incomplete paraplegia (lower body affected)
- 2% are incomplete quadriplegics (upper and lower body affected)
- Those with complete injuries comprise about 32% of all injuries
- 2% of all injuries result in complete paraplegia
- Just 12.3% of all injuries result in complete quadriplegia
- Among incomplete injuries, 80% could stand within a year and half could walk
Stats About Life With SCI
Will a complete injury heal? Unfortunately complete injuries typically are given only a 5% chance of recovery, 0% after 72 hours.
What are the odds of survival? Mortality rates are highest in the first year. 80% of survivors survive the first decade post SCI. Mortality rates will be very low for a ventilator-dependent patient who is over 60 years old, but 50+ years for a patient who is 20 years old with preserved function.
How long will you be hospitalized? That will be dependent on your injury but the average is 11 days, and about a month in rehab.
What about long term? Most survivors (87%) live at home and 6.7% live in facilities.
What about getting back to work? Just 17% of SCI survivors are employed a year later.
What about the cost of care? Expect to pay out $320,000-985,000 in the first year. Most survivors have private insurance at the time of injury but Medicaid by ten years post.
What About Secondary Health Complications?
About 30% of people with SCI will visit the hospital more than once a year. Talk to your doctor about these common secondary health complications experienced by people with SCI.
- Up to 80% of people with SCI will have a pressure sore during their lifetime, and 30% will have more than one.
- About 65%–78% of the SCI population experience spasming or contracting of the muscles.
- Autonomic dysreflexia affects 48% to 70% of patients with a spinal cord injury above the T6 level.
- 80 percent of people with SCI experience urinary incontinence.
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