denny Ethnic & National book

It is estimated that the annual incidence of spinal cord injury (SCI), not including those who die at the scene of the accident, is approximately 40 cases per million population in the US or approximately 12000 new cases each year. Since there have not been any incidence studies of SCI in the US since the 1990′s it is not known if incidence has changed in recent years. The number of people in the United States who are alive in 2010 who have SCI has been estimated to be approximately 265000 persons, with a range of 232000 to 316000 persons. SCI primarily affects young adults. From 1973 to 1979, the average age at injury was 28.7 years, and most injuries occurred between the ages of 16 and 30. However, as the median age of the general population of the United States has increased by approximately 9 years since the mid-1970, the average age at injury has also steadily increased over time. Since 2005, the average age at injury is 40.7 years. Other possible reasons for the observed trend toward older age at injury might include changes in either referral patterns to model systems, the locations of model systems, survival rates of older persons at the scene of the accident, or age-specific incidence rates. Overall, 80.7% of spinal cord injuries reported to the national database have occurred among males. Over the history of the database, there has been a slight trend toward a decreasing percentage of males. Prior to 1980, 81.8% of new spinal cord injuries occurred among males ...