Direct health care costs after traumatic spinal cord injury.
The objective was to quantify direct health care costs attributable to traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI).



This population-based cohort study followed individuals with SCI from date of injury to 6 years postinjury. SCI cases were matched to a comparison group randomly selected from the general population. Administrative data from a Canadian province with a universal publicly funded health care system and centralized health databases were used. Costs included hospitalizations, physician services, home care, and long-term care.



Attributable costs in the first year were $121,600 (2002 $CDN) per person with a complete SCI, and $42,100 per person with an incomplete injury. In the subsequent 5 years, annual costs were $5,400 and $2,800 for persons with complete and incomplete SCIs, respectively.



Direct costs in the first year after SCI are substantial. In the subsequent 5 years, individuals with SCI will continue to accrue greater costs than the general public.
Dryden
Donna M
DM
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada. ddryden@ualberta.ca
Saunders
L Duncan
LD
Jacobs
Phillip
P
Schopflocher
Donald P
DP
Rowe
Brian H
BH
May
Laura A
LA
Yiannakoulias
Niko
N
Svenson
Lawrence W
LW
Voaklander
Donald C
DC
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000191:economics; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000191:economics*