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To examine the effects of age at injury on lengths of stay, treatment costs, and outcomes using a matched sample of tetraplegic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.

Differences were examined by separating the sample into three age categories (18 to 34, 35 to 64, and 65+ years old) matched for American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Motor Impairment Classification and level of neurologic preservation bilaterally. Analysis of variance was used to examine age group differences for lengths of stay, medical expenses, and functional outcome.

Sixteen medical centers in the federally sponsored Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Project.

Three hundred seventy-five adult patients with tetraplegic SCI admitted between 1988 and 1996 were assessed at acute care admission, inpatient rehabilitation admission, and inpatient rehabilitation discharge.

ASIA Motor …