Life Expectancy Estimates in the Life Care Plan: Accounting for Economic Factors

Objective: The purpose of this study was to summarize the existing scientific literature on the relationship between economic factors and life expectancy (LE) after spinal cord injury (SCI), present new data on the relationship between household income and LE, and present a revised theoretical risk model to account for the observed relationships. Research Design: Data were from a prospective cohort study of 1386 participants with SCI which began in 1997. Mortality status was determined 10 years later. Person year logistic regression was used to evaluate predictors of mortality and to generate LE estimates, as each year of follow-up was treated as a separate observation (rather than a single observation per person). Results: Results indicated significant relationships between age, injury severity, household income and LE, which suggest the need for more refined models of economic factors and LE. Conclusions: LE estimates in life care plans need to account for economic factors in order to improve accuracy. It is important to allocate resources to meet all healthcare needs throughout the lifecycle to ensure that LE is not compromised.