Key takeaways
Older people have a harder time recovering from spinal cord injury
Their neurological recovery is the same as that of younger people.
But their functional recovery is delayed, possibly due to other age-related health problems.
MONDAY, Dec. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) — It’s harder for older people to recover from a spinal cord injury, a new study reports.
Older people recover just as well as younger people when it comes to healing their nervous system, including regaining strength and sensory function.
But they have a worse recovery of their functional abilities, being less able to perform tasks such as feeding themselves, bathing, taking care of their needs in the bathroom or walking.
And the older a person is, the more difficult it will be to recover from a spinal cord injury, the researchers concluded.
“With population growth and improvements in medicine, the number of people diagnosed with spinal cord injury is increasing and the average age at injury is increasing,” said lead researcher Dr. Chiara Pavese, an associate professor at the University of Pavia in Italy.
“Despite substantial advances in medicine and surgery in recent decades, the recovery rate after a spinal cord injury remains the same,” Pavese said in a news release. “Our results can help researchers design age-specific studies to evaluate new therapies and approaches for people with spinal cord injury.”
For the new study, researchers followed nearly 2,200 European patients for a year after a spinal cord injury.
Older people regained strength in their upper and lower bodies, as did younger people, and were equally able to feel a light touch or prick.
But they were less likely to regain their ability to live independently. Tests showed slower recovery when it came to activities of daily living.
These functional tests range from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating better recovery. Overall, participants began recovery with an average score of 31, and after one year the scores had increased to 35.
For every decade older a patient was, they scored 4.3 points lower on functional tests after a year of rehabilitation.
Likewise, older people showed less improvement on all walking tests than younger people, the study showed.
The researchers particularly found a notable reduction in recovery of function among people over 70 years of age.
Older people with a spinal cord injury likely start behind the eight ball, and other health problems such as muscle loss, arthritis and age-related cognitive decline interfere with their recovery, the researchers speculated in their study.
“People over 70 need specific rehabilitation approaches that take into account other conditions they may be living with, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or osteoporosis, and help them with recovery that applies to their daily lives,” Pavese said.
The findings were published December 23 in the journal Neurology.
More information
The Mayo Clinic has more information about spinal cord injury rehabilitation.
SOURCE: American Academy of Neurology, news release, December 23, 2025
What this means to you
Seniors have a difficult road ahead after a spinal cord injury, with more challenging rehabilitation.
