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BRAIN
INJURY STATISTICS
The following information
is taken from the "Coma Guide for Cargivers" from the Delaware Health
and Social Services of the Division of Services for Aging and Adults with
Physical Disabilties, and is republished here with their express consent.
We wish to thank Linda Heller of that department for her assistance in
preparing this material.
General
- There are 2 million
Traumatic Brain Injuries each year (One every 15 seconds).
- 500,000 of these
injuries require hospital admission.
- Every 5 minutes
someone dies from a head injury.
- 140,000 people each year.
- 75,000 - 100,000 in the U.S.
- Over half of the deaths occur at the time of
the incident or within two hours of hospitalization.
- Every 5 minutes
someone becomes permanently disabled due a head injury.
- 70,000 - 90,000
of those who survive will have lifelong disabilities.
- 2,000 more will
live in a persistent vegetative state.
- Over 50% of those
who sustain a Brain Injury have been intoxicated at the time or injury.
The cost of Traumatic Brain Injuries in the U.S. is over $48 Billion
each year!
Causes
- 51% - Motor Vehicle
Accidents
- 21% - Falls
- 12% - Assaults
and Violence
- 10% - Sports and
Recreation
- 6% - Other
Survivors
- A survivor of severe
brain injury faces 5 to 10 years of intensive services and rehabilitation
- The costs of a
severe brain injury often exceed 4 million dollars
- A majority of head
injury survivors are under the age 30
- 2/3 of those who
survive will live a normal span of life, but will require life long
services such as vocational rehabilitation and physical therapy.
Injury
- A person does not
need to be knocked out or lose consciousness to have sustained a traumatic
brain injury.
- A person does not
need to strike their head to sustain traumatic brain injury (eg., whiplash,
shaken baby syndrome)
- Even mild traumatic
brain injuries can cause cognitive impairments serious enough to impact
a person's ability to enjoy life and to be able to work and earn a living.
- People who sustain
a brain injury are 3 times as likely to sustain a (second) brain injury
- Those who sustain
a second brain injury are 8 times as likely to sustain a (third) brain
injury
Bicycling
- About 75% of all
bicyclists who die each year die of head injuries
- 85% of head injuries
in bicycle accidents can be prevented by wearing a helmet
Demographics
- Males between the
ages of 14 and 24 have the highest rate of injury
- Males are almost
twice as likely to suffer serious brain injuries than females
- Brain Injuries
kill more Americans under the age of 34 than all other diseases combined
Children
- Child abuse is
the cause of 64% of all infant head injuries
- Approximately 1
in 500 school-age children each year receive a head injury severe enough
to be hospitalized
- 1 million children
sustain a head injury each year
- 165,000 children
will be hospitalized due to a head injury
- 1 in 10 of those
children hospitalized will suffer moderate to severe impairments
- Traumatic brain
injury is the leading cause of death for children and young adults
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