Statistics of Disability

According to the US Department of Commerce, a person has a disability when he/she has difficulty with any of the following:

• normal body functions, such as seeing, hearing, talking, or walking
  
  
• activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing or dressing
  
  
• certain expected roles, such as doing housework, schoolwork, or working at a job
  
  
• performing usual activities, such as driving or taking a bus

Approximately one in five Americans have some type of disability, and one in eight have a severe disability.

Statistics related to disability:

• More than 50 percent of persons over age 65 (or 32 million people) have some level of disability.
  
  
• Thirty-three million people of all ages are severely disabled and need personal assistance for daily activities.
  
  
• Of children ages 6 to 14, one in eight have some type of disability.
  
  
• Back pain causes more disability for people under age 45 than any other condition. Seventy to 85 percent of people in the US will suffer from back pain at some point in their life.
  
  
• Chronic pain affects about 86 million Americans and is the third leading cause of impairment in the US, after cancer and heart disease.
  
  
• Stroke is the leading cause of long-term, severe disability in Americans. Four million Americans live today with the effects of a stroke. The severity of a stroke affects a person's rate of recovery and ability to function following the stroke. Fifty percent to 70 percent of persons following a stroke regain functional independence, while 15 percent to 30 percent remain permanently disabled.
  
  
• Approximately 1.5 million Americans experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year.
  
  
• One brain injury occurs every 21 seconds; about 50 percent of these result in at least a short-term disability. The cost of traumatic brain injury treatment each year is more than $48.3 billion.
  
  
• About 11,000 people in the US suffer a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. At present, between 183,000 and 230,000 people live with a SCI disability.
  
  
• Automobile accidents, firearms, and falls are the leading causes of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries - two of the most severely disabling injuries.

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