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Neurotrauma Statistics
Statistics are very useful in order to understand the scale and impact of neurotrauma in our society. Good, up-to-date statistics are, however, very often hard to obtain. The following information was updated in September 2009.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Incidence
- TBI in Australia during 2008: Access Economics estimated that there were 1,493 new moderately severe cases and 1,000 new severe cases of TBI (equivalent to incidence rates of 7.0 and 4.7 cases per 100,000 persons for moderate and severe TBI respectively). They warn that these figures are conservative, because not all injuries are captured in existing databases around the country.
- [TBI in WA during 2008 - extrapolated estimate - approximately 250 cases of moderate and severe TBI (10% of national figure)]
- TBI in Australia during 2004-2005: The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare reported that the number of TBI cases was 22,710 (presumably this figure also included mild TBIs).
Prevalence
- Access Economics reported in July 2009 that a literature review revealed no clear estimates of TBI prevalence in Australia.
Cost
- Lifetime costs of TBI and SCI occurring in Australia during 2008 alone is estimated to be $10.5 billion.
- TBI in Australia during 2004-2005: The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare reported that associated direct costs for hospital care for the 22,710 cases of TBI amounted to more than $184 million.
- Brightwater Care Group in 2003 estimated that for TBI:
- cost of providing slow-stream rehab is $86,500 per year per person;
- cost of care for a person with high dependency (but not tracheostomy), with some allied health input & activities, is $84,500 per year.
- (Both figures are in a 30 bed setting - estimates would change with different economy of scale)
Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
Incidence
- SCI in Australia during 2008: Access Economics estimated that there were 137 new cases of paraplegia and 136 new cases of quadriplegia (equivalent to incidence rates of 0.6 and 0.6 cases per 100,000 persons for paraplegia and quadriplegia respectively). They warn that these figures are conservative, because not all injuries are captured in existing databases around the country.
- SCI in Australia annually: The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare reported in Jan 2009 that each year in Australia there are 300 - 400 new cases of SCI from traumatic and non-traumatic causes. WA's annual average incidence rate has for some time exceeded the national average rate. The Sir George Bedbrook Spinal Unit accepts around 50 new admissions per annum.
- SCI in Australia during 2006-07: The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare reported the following detailed statistics:
- there were 272 new cases of persisting traumatic SCI in Australia
- the highest case count was among males in the 15-24 years age group
- about 78% of the transport-related SCI injuries cases were caused by traffic accidents - 110 cases in total
- there were 11 more cases of spinal cord injury caused by motorcyclist traffic accidents in 2006-07 than there were the previous year (37 compared to 26)
- there were 17 fewer fall injury cases of SCI in 2006-07 than in the previous year (78 compared to 95)
- water-related accidents accounted for fewer than 10% of cases
- accidents from sporting activities also made up fewer than 10% of cases
- fourteen per cent of the SCI cases occurred while working for income
- in addition to the 272 cases due to trauma, there were an additional 76 new cases of persisting SCI that were due to disease
Prevalence
- O'Connor (2005) estimated that the Australian prevalence of SCI in 1997 was approximately 10,000 cases, and predicted that this would be 12,000 by 2021. Similarly, Cripps (2008) estimated SCI prevalence in 2006-07 to be 9,000. However, these estimates are likely to be conservative.
Cost
- Lifetime costs of TBI and SCI occurring in Australia during 2008 alone is estimated to be $10.5 billion.
- The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare reported in Jan 2009 that, based on cost estimates from Walsh et al, 2005, ongoing costs associated with long-term care of approximately 9,000 people living with SCI nationally are estimated to be nearly $500 million per year.
- These cost estimates allow for attendant care and equipment only and do not include medical or ancillary treatment. The estimates may change quite markedly from year to year depending on the number of ventilator-dependent or high-level tetraplegia (C1-C3) cases that occur. Estimated attendant care and equipment costs for each ventilator-dependent and each non-ventilator dependent tetraplegic patient are ~$284,000 and $197,000 per year, respectively.
Stroke
Incidence
- Stroke in Australia: The Rural Health & Education Foundation (funded by Fed Government) in December 2008 reported that around 53,000 stroke events occur annually among Australians. Also:
- One in five initial stroke sufferers die within the first month post-stroke and one in three die within a year.
- 88% of stroke survivors live at home, and almost all have some form of disability.
- The National Stroke Foundation reported:
- in 2009 Australians will suffer around 60,000 new and recurrent strokes - that's one stroke every 10 minutes
(source: AG Thrift, estimates obtained using data from NEMESIS [North East Melbourne Stroke Incidence Study, the largest incidence study of stroke conducted in Australia] and the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates of a changing population)
- stroke is the third biggest killer among Australians annually and accounts for one quarter of chronic adult disability in Australia
Prevalence
- The National Stroke Foundation in June 2004 reported that around 220,000 Australians are currently living with stroke
(source: 'All About Stroke' publication)
Cost
- The National Stroke Foundation in 2009 reported that strokes cost Australia an estimated $2.14 billion a year
(source: National Stroke Research Institute Technical Report, Unpublished, 2005)
References
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