Costs of spinal cord injury in Australia

Available data on spinal cord injury in Australia has been synthesised. An investigation and discussion has been made into the major financial costs involved in the acute management and ongoing life support systems required by people who have sustained spinal cord injury. The costs are projected to give an estimate of the potential for dollar savings in Australia in reducing the impact of spinal cord injury, either by lowering its incidence or by reducing the resulting devastation. Allowance has been made in these projections for severity of disability, rates of survival, re-employment, hospitalisation and relative use of various aids and appliances. It is estimated that based on an incidence rate of 25 new cases of spinal cord injury per million of population per annum the annual cost by the year 2006 will exceed $250m. As the spinal cord injury population ages the propensity of cost is expected to move from acute and medical care to less acute, community based care. Mention is also made of the non-economic human costs which cannot be quantified in terms of dollars and cents.