Between 183,000 and 230,000 people in the United States, and approximately 2 million people worldwide, live with a spinal cord injury (SCI).
Each year 11,000 new injuries are reported.
Every 49 minutes a new injury occurs.
55% of SCIs occur among people between the ages of 16 and 30 years.
Average age of injury - 33.4 years.
Median age of injury - 26 years.
Most frequent age of injury - 19 years.
Since 1990, SCI in persons over the age of 60 has comprised 14.7% of the injured population. This is up 10% since the 1970s.
Close to 82% of people with SCI are male.
51.6% of persons with SCI suffer from tetraplegia (the most current term for quadriplegia) while 46.3% suffer from paraplegia.
Incomplete tetraplegia is the most frequent injury, ocurring in 29.5% of incidents.
56.9% of persons with SCI are employed at the time of injury. Yet, by 10 years post-injury, only 31.9% with paraplegia and 24.4% of persons with tetraplegia report employment.
88.7% of all persons who suffer from SCI are discharged to private residences, normally that in which they lived prior to the incident. Only 4.8% go to nursing facilities.
53% of SCIs occur among single people, 31% occur among married people, 9% occur among divorcees, and 7% occur among "other."
5 years post-injury, 81% of people who were married at the time of the incident remain married (8% fewer than the uninjured population).
5 years post-injury, 88% of people who were single at the time of the incident remain single (23% fewer than the uninjured population).
10 years post-injury, 85% of people who sustain SCI and survive the first 24 hours are still living (13% fewer than non-injured peers of comparable age and sex).
