National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical database

Unlike the Netherlands, there are good statistical data on the life expectancy of paraplegic patients in the United States. In 1973 is started to register people with a fresh paraplegia. In October 2007, the database consisted of information about 25,415 people.

The table shows the age at which someone incurs a spinal cord injury (SCI). In the column "No SCI" is the amount of years that someone of that age without paraplegia in average still lives. So the life expectancy minus the years he has had. Further to the right is the lesion higher and simultaneously shows the life expectancy is decreasing.

Example from the table: An average American of 30 years has a life expectancy of 78.9 years. So he will still live in average 48.9 years. If he incurs SCI, for example Thoracic 8 and thus becomes paraplegic, his life expectancy drops by 11.5 years to 67.4 years and he has in averaged only 37.4 years to live.

For a short English summary of the available statistics, click here

For a comprehensive report, click here

Life expectancy for people with SCI – Spinal Cord Injury

Unjustly is often said that a paraplegic has the same life expectancy as the average. Through this link you can find a number of recent articles that show that this is not the case. The first reference refers to the site where, among other things, the above table can be found.

In the United Kingdom, BerkelBike has two dealers (see Contact). The prices in the UK are displayed in document Price list (PDF).

If you’re considering purchasing the Impuls system with your BerkelBike, we strongly advise you to contact BerkelBike BV to discuss the suitability of this system for you. Also see Physicians and Therapists link.