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Facts About Traumatic Brain Injury
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
What is a traumatic brain injury?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of such an injury may range from "mild," i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to "severe," i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. A TBI can result in short or long-term problems with independent function.
Traumatic Brain Injury Facts:
How many people have TBI?
Of the 1.7 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:
- 52,000 die;
- 275,000 are hospitalized; and
- 1.365 million are treated and released from an emergency department.1
The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency department or who receive no care is unknown.
What causes TBI?
The leading causes of TBI are:
- Falls (35.2%);
- Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (17.3%);
- Struck by/against events (16.5%);
- Assaults (10%); and
- Unknown/Other (21%). 1
Blasts are a leading cause of TBI for active duty military personnel in war zones.2
Who is at highest risk for TBI?
- Males are about 1.5 times as likely as females to sustain a TBI.1
- The two age groups at highest risk for TBI are 0 to 4 year olds and 15 to 19 year olds.1
- Certain military duties (e.g., paratrooper) increase the risk of sustaining a TBI.3
- African Americans have the highest death rate from TBI.1
What are the costs of TBI?
Direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost productivity of TBI totaled an estimated $60 billion in the United States in 2000.4
What are the long-term consequences of TBI?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.5
According to one study, about 40% of those hospitalized with a TBI had at least one unmet need for services one year after their injury. The most frequent unmet needs were:
- Improving memory and problem solving;
- Managing stress and emotional upsets;
- Controlling one's temper; and
- Improving one's job skills.6
TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, language, learning, emotions, behavior, and/or sensation. It can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other brain disorders that become more prevalent with age.7,8
Collaborating Organizations
Brain Injury Association of America
www.biausa.org
800-444-6443
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov
800-311-3435
Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
www.dvbic.org
800-870-9244
Health Resources and Services Administration
www.hrsa.gov
301-443-3376
National Association of State Head Injury Administrators
www.nashia.org
301-656-3500
National Brain Injury Research Treatment and Training Foundation
www.nbirtt.org
434-220-4824
National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, NICHD, NIH
www.nichd.nih.gov/about/ncmrr
800-370-2943
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/nidrr
202-245-7640
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH
www.ninds.nih.gov
800-352-9424
North American Brain Injury Society
www.nabis.org
703-960-6500
Social Security Administration
www.ssa.gov
800-772-1213
References
- Faul M, Xu L, Wald MM, Coronado VG. Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations and Deaths 2002–2006. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2010.
- Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC). [unpublished]. Washington (DC): U.S. Department of Defense; 2005.
- Ivins BJ, Schwab K, Warden D, Harvey S, Hoilien M, Powell J, et al. Traumatic brain injury in U.S. army paratroopers: prevalence and character. Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection and Critical Care 2003;55(4): 617-21.
- Finkelstein E, Corso P, Miller T and associates. The Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
- Thurman D, Alverson C, Dunn K, Guerrero J, Sniezek J. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: a public health perspective. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 1999;14(6):602-15.
- Corrigan JD, Whiteneck G, Mellick D. Perceived needs following traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 2004;19(3):205-16.
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Traumatic brain injury: hope through research. Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health; 2002 Feb. NIH Publication No. 02-158. Available from: www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/detail_tbi.htm.
- Ylvisaker M, Todis B, Glang A, et al. Educating students with TBI: themes and recommendations. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 2001; 16:76-93.
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov.
Comments [10]
I specialize in TBI case research and summarization of medical information for trial. I feel like the part that no one talks about is that the stats are pretty favorable that the patient will develop future conditions from the accident that happened 20 years ago. I try to keep current on research as they do so much in other countries in terms of trying to repair affected areas of the brain with medication and other intervention and wonder why the US doesn't. If you are a Plaintiff in litigation, be your own best advocate and give the statistics to your attorney so they will make sure you have a settlement that provides for reasonably anticipated future medical care. Of course, no one knows who could develop what but there is a good argument that you will deal with new symptoms or illnesses in your lifetime if you have suffered a TBI. I have personally watched someone I cared about suffer from seizures, stroke-like episodes and episodes of confusion that include non relation of time and place, he suffered a TBI as a result of a motorcycle accident many years ago. His way of dealing with it was withdrawing from the world and most people. I wonder how many people there are like him who have no idea. For the cases that involve litigation, there needs to be a much bigger focus on future medical care.
"What causes TBI? The leading causes of TBI are: Falls (35.2%); Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (17.3%)" Silver, McAllister, and Yudofski in their book by 2005 have named Motor vehicles crashes as the first, and Falls as the second causes of TBI. Sarah, Psychology student, Iran
I received a pretty bad head injury when I was in Junior High and was in and out of consciousness for almost 20 minutes. When I returned to school I had a bad head ache and very little memory loss other than the incident and the time I arrived at the doctors office. Then I joined the military and I received several small head injuries while I was in the Service but none were of much concern to me.However, I did notice problems with headaches and worsening memory loss or an inability to recall events as clearly and with detail as I was able to when I was younger. When I retired from the service I had another severe head injury which left me walking around unconscious for several minutes (as I was told) and no memory of who I spoke to or what I said. Since then I have had severe headaches and increasing problems with my memory. I have a hard time concentrating or studying even-though I have been told I was normal. If this is normal it really sucks. How can I receive an assessment for brain injury? The only income I have is disability and a small retirement pension from the military, my insurance is Medicare and I am struggling in college classes. After I retired
thank you for the helpful information. :D RAINBOWS RULE SAVE THE EARTH RECYCLE
I would like to cite many of|your informational sources as reference points on my Mesa College Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) website. These are very good informational sources.
ThAnk U sO mUcH 4 yOuR hElP
"TBI" Camps are needed to assist veterans and their families and help to restore self-confidence and a "can do" attitude. As a "TBI" recipient, I can attest to the 30-40 years that it took to restore my "can do" attitude on my own. I'm sure that our Nation's Wounded Warriors deserve much more. You can help by helping to create awareness and acceptance of the "TBI" enabled veteran (who fought and sacrificed to protect your rights and freedoms) by society - especially by the employer community.
thank you so much for posting this!!!!
Great traumatic brain injury facts and statistics. It really does impact a lot of people!
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I appreciate your posting here - I work with multiple populations as well as TBI survivors. I am a Hospital Liaison for a Mental Health Agency and my biggest issue with TBI persons is finding appropriate placement options. These folks don't always have family or friends that they can reside with. A lot of TBI persons, especially if they have other mental health issues are likely to remain in psychiatric hospitals because there are no placement options available that will provide a structured supervised living environment for them. There are several folks that require 24 hour supervision and with the TBI Waiver requirements in effect presently - they also have to meet a PAS-2000 (Nursing Home Pass) in order to qualify for this Financial Assistance. Unfortunately, if your body is in good working condition - you don't qualify - even if your TBI is severe. I have written my states Legislative committee and have individually contacted several committee members with this issue. the best response I received was "We'll look into this issue and get back with you." This is NOT the response I was really looking for. I would appreciate Legislation to actually investigate the REAL issues with this population: 1) Lack of Community Support Services; 2) Lack of adequate Supportive Housing options for Homeless TBI survivors; 3) Redesign of the TBI Waiver program from excluding a severe TBI person because their body is "too healthy" to receive this benefit; and 4) Financial Assistance for TBI persons needing other Community Mental Health Services.
Nov 9th, 2012 8:33am