Preventing Traumatic Brain Injuries

By Peter Kent - 2008-05-31 Find more articles like this in our Disability Articles category.

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Age, gender, genetic history — all statistical information that could play a part into whether an individual is more or less at risk for a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a top injury affecting millions of Americans each year.

Researchers are using statistics to better understand if a link may exist between demographics and TBI.

Traumatic Brain Injury: Who Is Affected?

Though studies vary slightly, it is generally accepted that at least 1.4 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury each year in the United States. However, this figure only reflects the number of patients who seek treatment at the emergency department of a hospital or other medical facility; the number who do not seek care is unknown. This "mystery factor" in TBI demographics is of concern since many of the effects of traumatic brain injury can take months or even years to develop and manifest.

Gender

Men have been found to be as much as twice as likely as women to sustain a traumatic brain injury. It was also discovered that men are more likely to have a positive and overal better outcome ater traumatic brain injury treatments. Medical professionals are unsure of the cause for worse brain damage outcomes in female victims; however, it may have to do with sex hormones or differences in brain structure.

Age

The population of brain-injured patients is generally acknowledged to skew towards the young side; actually, it was recently reported that the two age groups being 0 to 4 and 15 to 19 were more at risk and likely to suffer from TBI, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This is due to a high incidence of falls in the former group and motor vehicle accidents in the latter. Elderly individuals above 75 years of age are also more likely to suffer from traumatic brain injury due to slip and fall injuries connected to the aging process and medications.

What Are The Causes of Traumatic Brain Injury?

There are many causes for traumatic brain injury, but motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of TBI in victims across all age ranges and genders. Firearms and falls follow, but the causes of brain injury change depending on the age group in question. Children, for example, are usually associated with sustaining TBI due to in-home abuse while the elderly are highly affected by TBI after a fall rather than during an automobile accident. Attempted suicide is an often-overlooked cause of TBI. Alcohol plays a notable role in traumatic brain injury, with figures ranging from 32 to 73 percent of all TBI incidents involving some degree of alcohol abuse. Other causes of TBI include boating, swimming, and occupational accidents.

What Are The Costs of Traumatic Brain Injury?

The most expensive and dramatic effect of TBI is death: out of 1.4 million TBI cases are reported annually with nearly 50,000 of those reesulting in death. But there are other costs and complications of TBI, one of which is lifetime disability (80,000 of the 1.nearly 4 million cases of TBI will result in long-term disability. While millions of Americans survive TBI accidents they often do not go without severe side effects ranging from mental and physical disability to social and cognitive lapses, which may result in financial insecurity, family instability, loss of a job or withdrawel from social functions and activities.

Though perhaps nothing can put a dollar value on an individual's loss of independence and daily life skills, there are distinct monetary losses associated with TBI. These include lost wages, inability to work, and social costs such as lost taxes and required state assistance. Some statistics estimate that traumatic brain injury costs the United States over $60 billion per year in combined costs.

If You've Been Affected by Traumatic Brain Injury

If you or a loved one has experienced the cost of traumatic brain injury, contact an experienced TBI attorney. A TBI attorney can offer assistance in developing brain injury litigation as well as seek monetary compensation for medical bills associate with TBI.

LegalView hosts an array of information portals on this and many other legal issues.