What is life like for people with spinal cord injuries around the world?

The latest data from the second InSCI study (International Spinal Cord Injury Survey) provides an insight into the living conditions of people with spinal cord injuries in Switzerland and worldwide. Between 2022 and 2024, over 15,000 people from 31 countries took part in the survey.

An overview of the key findings:

• Causes of spinal cord injury worldwide: The leading causes are road traffic collisions (35%), falls from more than one metre (18%), and work-related accidents (14%). However, there are considerable differences between countries.
• Most common health problems: Pain (82%), depressive symptoms (79%), muscle spasms (76%), and bowel problems (71%) are the most frequently reported health issues among people with spinal cord injury.
• Changes over time: An increase in health problems over the years was observed only in people with traumatic spinal cord injury, but not in those with non-traumatic spinal cord injury.
• Use of healthcare services: General practitioners are the most frequently consulted healthcare professionals (59%), followed by inpatient services (49%) and physiotherapy (44%).
• Major differences in access to care: The proportion of people reporting unmet healthcare needs ranges from around 8% in Switzerland to approximately 60% in Iran and Morocco.
• Health system performance: Switzerland ranks fifth internationally. Only Norway, Andorra, the Netherlands, and Spain achieved higher scores.
• Low employment rates: On average, only about one third of people with spinal cord injury are employed worldwide. Rates are substantially higher in high-income countries, with Switzerland ranking first globally at 60%.

 You can find out more about the InSCI study in the summer 2026 issue of Paracontact magazine (in German).

Participating countries in the InSCI study (shown in blue).