title: Direct health care costs after traumatic spinal cord injury.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada. ddryden@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Dryden
authors.forename: L Duncan
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Donald P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Schopflocher
authors.forename: Brian H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: May
authors.forename: Niko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yiannakoulias
authors.forename: Lawrence W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Svenson
authors.forename: Donald C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Voaklander
mesh_terms: 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*