|
Epidemiology
Overall, spasticity affects about 500,000 people in the United States and more than 12 million people throughout the world.
Spasticity in Multiple Sclerosis
The number of people with MS varies with geographic location (more people living in northern climates have MS), race (MS is more common in Caucasians), socioeconomic status (rates of MS are higher in those with a higher socioeconomic status), and sex (MS is twice as common in women as in men). Of those people with MS, more than 85% have at least mild spasticity, with more than 30% being forced to at least frequently modify their activities because of the spasticity.
Spasticity in Cerebral Palsy
Although it is not clear how many children have cerebral palsy, cerebral palsy is estimated to affect two to four out of every 1,000 children in the world who are between 3 and 10 years old. About 50% of cerebral palsy is related to a specific event in which levels of oxygen to the brain of the child were not adequate.
Spasticity in Stroke
Every year, 700,000 Americans have a stroke. Overall, 14 out of
every 1,000 people older than 65 years of age have had a stroke,
and the rate increases with advancing age, particularly in women.
Stroke afflicts almost 2,000 out of every 1 million people per year
worldwide. Almost 40% of people who have a stroke continue to have
spasticity one year later.
Spasticity in Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury
According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year an estimated 1.5 millions Americans experience a traumatic brain injury, and 11,000, a spinal cord injury. Of the 90,000 people who survive the brain injury, approximately 25% are left with spasticity; among the estimated more than 200,000 people currently living with a disability related to a spinal cord injury, more than half are thought to have spasticity.
|
