OBJECTIVES: To describe economic burden for persons with SB in Germany. METHODS: Survey data were used to capture use of health care and assistive technologies for both last year and ten years prior to data collection.  Participants were recruited from the tertiary clinic database or when initiating care in the clinic.  Participants had to have a verifiable SB diagnosis, and a cognitive ability to respond to the questionnaire or a caregiver able to answer questions.  Data were double-entered with queries issued to patients to improve data quality.  Descriptive analyses were used to summarize data. RESULTS: Information on resource use for 88 participants was collected (44% female, mean age 28.7, SD=13.5).  In the year prior to data collection, 88.6% (N=78) had at least one visit to a general practitioner (GP), 77.3% (N=68) a visit to urologist, and 69.3% (N=61) a visit to physiotherapist.  Mean number of annual visits was 7.6 GP, 3.6 urologist, and 65.3 physiotherapist visits.  Participants reporting secondary care use were found to visit hospital most often (N=38, 43.2%), followed by emergency room care (N=12, 13.6%).  Among responders being hospitalized, average annual length of stay in a regular ward was 14.8 days per person, with average hospitalization of 7.3 days.  During previous ten years, majority of responders required a wheelchair (N=59, 67.0%), glasses (N=57, 64.7%), and orthopaedic shoes (N=52, 59.1%), with an average of 2.5, 2.8, and 6.1 new items respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that persons with SB require a substantial amount of health care both in short and long term and that the overall burden experienced by persons with SB may be high, especially if coupled by possible quality of life implications.  Successful prevention, using education and targeted intervention for women of childbearing age could reduce the burden, but further research is required to fully understand economic impact of SB.