MedicalResearch.com Interview with study leaders: Shalini Selvarajah MD, MPH Postdoctoral Research Fellow Center for Surgical Trials and Outcomes Research Department of Surgery Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD 21287  and Edward R. Hammond, MD, PhD, MPH Research Associate International Center for Spinal Cord Injury Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger Institute Baltimore, MD 21205. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Researchers: ·    Between 2007 and 2010, the number of serious traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCI) in the United States (U.S.) increased, doing so more rapidly among older adults (age ≥65 years) compared to younger adults (age <65 years). Injuries from falls have overtaken motor vehicle crashes as the main cause of adult TSCI. ·    Older adults are more likely to experience worse outcomes compared to younger adults even after taking into account severity and mechanism of injury, as well as other co-morbid conditions. Older adults are 4 times more likely to die in the emergency room, and if admitted to inpatient care, they are 6 times more likely to die as inpatients compared to younger adults. ·    Emergency room charges for treatment of acute TSCI among adults increased 20% from $3,342 per encounter in 2007 to $4,024 per encounter in 2010 even after accounting for the cost of inflation. (more…)