What Is Traumatic Brain Injury And How Is It Treat

Brain Injury Statistics

I was doing some research about head injuries just to refresh my memory for a professional seminar presentation I was delivering; I had worked as a Rehabilitation nurse for over 13 years, although it has been over 20 years since I practiced in that field.  During my years of working with patients with traumatic brain injury there were never two who presented with the same symptoms.  That is because there was never damage in the same area of the brain and the same amount of damage.  The brain is a complex organ and really is the controlling area of the body. 

Information I gathered about traumatic brain injury is that males are about one and a half times as likely as females to sustain a TBI.  This has a lot to do with boys' makeup and that they are more likely to attempt more dangerous activities as they experiment with their abilities.  And then when the testosterone levels increase, danger-seeking behaviors increase.  This is confirmed by the second statistic that the two age groups at highest risk for TBI are 0 to 4 year olds and 15 to 19 year olds.  And no surprise, the testosterone and habits of danger seeking behavior continues to influence the males which explains the next statistic, that certain military duties (paratroopers) increase the risk of sustaining a TBI. Cultural and societal influences may have a hand in producing the next statistic that African Americans have the highest death rate from TBI. 

 Causes of traumatic brain injury are most caused by falls - 28%, then traffic accidents with 20%, closely followed by those struck by or against another object   with 19%.  Assaults contributed to 11% of the TBIs with & caused by other factors.  3% of brain injuries were the cause of bicycles at 3%, other transport caused TBIs at 2% and suicide causing traumatic brain injury to 1% of the population. 

 Characteristics and the severity of the traumatic brain injury is influenced by the  type, direction, intensity, and duration of the forces of damage.  In terms of prognosis, it worsens with the severity of injury, although "mild" in relation to TBIs are more poorly defined and prognosis is not as clear with it.  Most TBIs are determined to be mild and do not usually cause permanent or long-term disability; there is a chance, however that any severity level has the potential to cause significant, long-lasting disability. About 10% of those diagnosed as mild injury have sustained a permanent disability, 66% of moderate injuries, and 100% of severe injuries.  Most mild TBIs are completely resolved within three weeks, and almost all people with mild TBI are able to live independently and return to the jobs they had before the injury, although they may have mild cognitive and social impairments. Statistics show that over 90% of people with moderate TBI are able to live independently, although a portion require assistance in areas such as physical abilities, employment, and financial managing.  I feelthat training by Occupational Therapists may be of benefit with this level of impairment.   Most people with severe closed head injury either die or recover enough to live independently; success of those that are in the middle ground is less uncommon.

What Is Traumatic Brain Injury And How Is It Treated? Privacy Policy