FAQ

1. How many traumatic spinal cord injuries occur in the U.S. each year?

 The most recent estimate of the annual incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury is approximately 54 cases per one million people in the United States, excluding those who die at the scene of the accident. Given a current United States population of over 335 million persons, this means that over 18,000 new cases occur each year.

Data source: Jain NB, Ayers GD, Peterson EN, et al. Traumatic spinal cord injury in the United States, 1993-2012. JAMA. 2015;313(22):2236-2243.

2. How many people are alive today in the U.S. with traumatic spinal cord injury?

Estimates vary, but the generally accepted range is that there were between 257,000 and 388,000 persons living with traumatic spinal cord injuries in the United States in 2023.

Data source: Lasfarques JE, Custis D, Morrone F, Carswell J, Nguyen T. A Model for estimating spinal cord injury prevalence in the United States. Paraplegia 1995;33:62-68.

3. Has the incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury changed in recent years?

We don’t know because there haven’t been any national studies of incidence lately. Evidence from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample in 2015, the overall incidence rate of traumatic spinal cord injury remained relatively consistent from 1993 to 2012, at approximately 54 cases per million population. Age-specific incidence rates, however, varied over this period, with increased rates for the older age groups and decreased rates for the younger age groups, which applied to both males and females.

Data source: Jain NB, Ayers GD, Peterson EN, et al. Traumatic spinal cord injury in the United States, 1993-2012. JAMA. 2015;313(22):2236-2243.

4. What are the leading causes of traumatic spinal cord injury? Have they changed in recent years?

Motor vehicle crashes rank 1st at 38% followed by falls at 32%, acts of violence at 15%, sports at 8% and all others at 7%. These figures are for all injuries reported to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) since 2015. The percentage of cases due to acts of violence increased through the early 1990’s but has since declined. The percentage of cases due to falls has increased steadily since 1973. Cases due to sports have been decreasing. A quick search tool to find the leading causes of SCI is available on the NSCISC website (https://sites.uab.edu/nscisc/leading-causes-of-sci/). Searches can be sorted by type of report (full or condensed), multiple time-frames, race/ethnicity, and sex. The table on the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Annual Statistical Reports (https://sites.uab.edu/nscisc/reports-and-stats/) provides information about the trend in causes of injury over time.

References:

  1. National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Facts and Figures at a Glance. Birmingham, AL: University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024.
  2. National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Table 36 Trend in Grouped Etiology by Year of Injury. In: SCIMS 2023 Annual Report – Complete Public Version. University of Alabama at Birmingham: Birmingham, Alabama.
  3. Chen Y, He Y, DeVivo MJ. Changing demographics and injury profile of new traumatic spinal cord injuries in the United States, 1972-2014. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2016;97(10):1610-1619.
  4. Chen Y, Wen H, Baidwan N, DeVivo MJ. Demographic and health profile of people living with traumatic spinal cord injury in the United States during 2015-2019: Findings from the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Database. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2022;103(4):622-633. Erratum in: Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2023;104(4):710.
5. What is the life expectancy for someone with paraplegia or tetraplegia (quadriplegia)?

It depends on their age at injury, how long ago they were injured, and the severity of their injury. Tables from the Facts and Figures at a Glance (https://sites.uab.edu/nscisc/) provide rough estimates for life expectancies. A quick search tool to provide an estimate of life expectancy is also available on the NSCISC website (https://sites.uab.edu/nscisc/life-expectancy-calculator/). 

6. What are the life-time costs for care for someone with traumatic spinal cord injury?

It depends on how old the person is, and how severe their injury is. The tables on the Facts and Figures at a Glance provide a rough estimate of life-time costs for different ages and injury severity levels (https://sites.uab.edu/nscisc/).

7. How many patients are injured each year at a particular neurologic level?

The most frequent injury level is C4 and C5, followed by C6, T12, and L1. Overall, about 55% are cervical injuries (tetraplegia), and 45% are paraplegia (either thoracic [35%], lumbar [10%], or sacral injuries [<1%]). The tables on the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Annual Statistical Reports (https://sites.uab.edu/nscisc/reports-and-stats/) provide further detail on neurologic level and completeness of injury. 

References:

  1. National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Tables 67-70 Neurologic Level of Injury at Discharge. In: SCIMS 2023 Annual Report – Complete Public Version. University of Alabama at Birmingham: Birmingham, Alabama.
  2. Chen Y, He Y, DeVivo MJ. Changing demographics and injury profile of new traumatic spinal cord injuries in the United States, 1972-2014. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2016;97(10):1610-1619.
  3. Chen Y, Wen H, Baidwan N, DeVivo MJ. Demographic and health profile of people living with traumatic spinal cord injury in the United States during 2015-2019: Findings from the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Database. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2022;103(4):622-633. Erratum in: Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2023;104(4):710.
8. What is the frequency of occurrence of a particular secondary complication following traumatic spinal cord injury?

The most frequent secondary medical complications reported to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center include urinary tract infections, pressure injuries, pain, and depression. The tables on the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Annual Statistical Reports (https://sites.uab.edu/nscisc/reports-and-stats/) provide further detail regarding the physical and mental health status over time. 

References:

  1. Chen Y, Wen H, Baidwan N, DeVivo MJ. Demographic and health profile of people living with traumatic spinal cord injury in the United States during 2015-2019: Findings from the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Database. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2022;103(4):622-633. Erratum in: Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2023;104(4):710.
9. What are the usual demographics of people who get traumatic spinal cord injury?

    The average age at injury has increased from 29 years during 1970s to 43 years since 2015. There is an about 4 to 1 male to female ratio. Approximately 25% of traumatic spinal cord injuries occur among blacks, which is higher than the proportion of blacks in the general population (13%). Please see the updated figures published in the Facts and Figures at a Glance and also the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Annual Statistical Reports (https://sites.uab.edu/nscisc/). 

    References:

    1. National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Facts and Figures at a Glance. Birmingham, AL: University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024
    2. Chen Y, He Y, DeVivo MJ. Changing demographics and injury profile of new traumatic spinal cord injuries in the United States, 1972-2014. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2016;97(10):1610-1619.
    3. Chen Y, Wen H, Baidwan N, DeVivo MJ. Demographic and health profile of people living with traumatic spinal cord injury in the United States during 2015-2019: Findings from the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Database. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2022;103(4):622-633. Erratum in: Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2023;104(4):710.