A comparison of costs and health care utilization for veterans with traumatic and nontraumatic spinal cord injury

Justin R. St. Andre, Bridget M. Smith, Kevin T. Stroupe, Stephen P. Burns, Charlesnika T. Evans, Diane Cowper Ripley, Keran Li, Zhiping Huo, Timothy P. Hogan, Frances M. Weaver

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the largest system of care for individuals with spinal cord injury/disorder (SCI/D) in the world. This article compares demographics, utilization, diagnoses, and associated costs between veterans with traumatic and nontraumatic SCI/D. Regression analyses were used to predict the effect of injury etiology on patient utilization and cost after controlling for covariates. Veterans with a nontraumatic SCI/D were significantly older with a greater number of comorbidities and outpatient utilization; however, there was no difference in health care costs between groups, and injury etiology was not a significant predictor of cost. Recommendations for future research based on these findings are offered.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)27-42
Number of pages16
JournalTopics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation
Volume16
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • health care costs
  • spinal cord injury
  • veterans

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
  • Rehabilitation
  • Clinical Neurology

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