The Journal of Neurotrauma recently published an article finding the number of spinal cord injuries in the United States is growing, according to a Newswise report.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins analyzed 43,137 adults treated in the United States for spinal cord injury between 2007 and 2009. The researchers found falls were the leading cause of traumatic spinal cord injury — accounting for 41.5 percent of the patients — followed by motor vehicle-related crashes at 35.5 percent.
The average age of adults with traumatic spinal cord injury is 51, up from 41 in 2005. The researchers also reported older adults with traumatic spinal cord injury are four times more likely to die in the emergency room when compared with younger adults, and if they survive being admitted to the hospital, they are six times more likely to die during their inpatient stay.
Spinal cord injuries are also a huge financial burden on the healthcare system, with emergency room charges totaling $1.6 billion from 2007 to 2009. Charges increased 20 percent over the study period, according to the report, and the lifetime costs of caring for someone with a serious spinal cord injury range from $1 million to $5 million.
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