US traumatic spinal cord injury death rate rose after 2016
The age-adjusted death rate rose 2.28% annually in 2016–2024, after remaining stable through 2016, according to a national observational analysis.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational study analyzed US death records for 31,279 people whose listed causes of death included traumatic spinal cord injury between 1999 and 2024. Researchers examined national trends, adjusting death rates to account for differences in population age.
Annual deaths rose from 923 to 1,601. The age-adjusted death rate remained stable through 2016, then rose 2.28% annually through 2024. Mortality declined among people aged 15–34 but rose 43–60% among those aged 55–74. The analysis attributed 44% of the increase to population growth, 20% to population aging and 36% to rising death rates within age groups. Among deaths coded as acute injuries rather than lasting consequences of earlier injuries, falls accounted for 32% of deaths, rising to 59% among people aged 85 or older.
Why it matters
As spinal cord injuries shift toward older adults hurt in low-energy falls, understanding deaths linked to these injuries becomes increasingly relevant to health in later life.
Caveats
This observational analysis of population-level death records cannot establish what caused the trends. It measured deaths listing spinal cord injury among the causes, not the risk of dying after such an injury.
The paper
Balıkesir University
The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, Oct 23, 2026