DeVivo and Farris (2011) calculated the incident cost of SCI in a US population. Costs were presented in 2009 dollars. Results were separated to first year costs and annual costs for subsequent years. Results were presented for the entire cohort as well as stratified by level of injury and severity (C1-C4 and AIS A, B or C, C5-C8 AIS A, B or C and AIS D). Total mean costs were presented. This study provides updated data from the National SCI Statistical Center including new variables that were not available in past reports.
Table: First year SCI costs as reported by DeVivo and Farris (2011)
Table: SCI costs after the first year as reported by DeVivo and Farris (2011)
In another US study, Cao et al. (2011) calculated the mean cost of the same SCI cohort as DeVivo and Farris (2011) but modelled the lifetime costs for SCI. Results were divided in a similar manner to DeVivo and Farris (2011) and were based on the 2009 dollar.
In the US, mean costs are approximately $250,000 for first year, and $77,000 for following years. Mean costs range from approximately $138,000 to $476,000 in first year and $38,000 to $169,000 in following years depending on location and severity of injury. Estimated lifetime costs for an individual injured at 25 years old is approximately between $898,000 to $3 million and for an individual injured at 50 years old, approximately between $678,000 to $1.7 million depending on location and severity of injury.
