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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 10 have a severe disability.
Statistics related to disability:
- Fifty percent of persons over age 65 (or 31 million people) have some level of disability.
- Nine 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 80 million Americans and is the third leading cause of impairment in the US, after cancer and heart disease.
- Stroke is the leading cause of disability in older Americans. About 4.4 million stroke victims are living today; 50 percent of them are totally or partially dependent for their daily activities.
- Approximately 1.9 million Americans experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year.
- One brain injury occurs every 15 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 $4 billion.
- About 11,000 people in the US suffer a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. At present, nearly 200,000 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.
