Jornal Internacional de Medicina Física e Reabilitação
Acesso livre

Abstrato

Life Expectancy in Spinal Cord Injury: The Importance of High-Quality Care

Craig H. Lichtblau, Christopher Warburton, Gabrielle Meli, Allyson Gorman

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) injuries most commonly occur in the young, and there is a significant need to understand how long SCI patients will live for the purposes of planning and financing their care. The calculators that are used to estimate life expectancy in those with SCI are flawed and tend to underestimate survival time. Thanks to medical advancements, SCI patients are living longer than ever before and thus require more care over a longer duration. This care is costly and must be financed if SCI patients are to remain healthy and have adequate quality of life.