Search:

TBI Facts

  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major global health and socioeconomic problem. Ref. Maas et al 2008.
  • TBI is the leading cause of death and disability in young adults (Langlois 2006).
  • The incidence in elderly patients is increasing.
  • TBI can strike us all, but males are about twice as likely as females to experience a TBI (Mushkudiani 2007).
  • In younger patients Road Traffic Accidents are the most frequent cause of injury; in older patients falls.
  • Moderate and severe head injury (respectively) are associated with a 2.3 and 4.5 times increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (Finkelstein 2006).
  • Direct medical costs and indirect costs (loss of productivity) totalled an estimated $60 billion in the US in 2000. Ref. Thurman 2001.
  • Lifelong disability is common and includes:
    • Impaired memory and problem solving
    • Difficulty in managing stress and emotional upsets
    • Problems in controlling one's temper
    • Disturbed relationships
  • TBI research is underfunded Ref. Sobocki et al 2007.
  • None of the Phase III RCT's in severe and moderate TBI succeeded to convincingly demonstrate efficacy of new therapies with sufficient generalizibility.
  • Problems in clinical trial design and analysis may have contributed to this failure.

References:
  • Moderate and severe traumatic brain injury in adults
    Maas AIR, Stocchetti N, Bullock R.
    The Lancet Neurology. 2008 Aug 7(8):728-741.
  • Epidemiology and economics of head trauma.
    Thurman DJ.
    Miler L, Hayes R, eds. Head Trauma: basic, preclinical, and clinical directions. New York: Wiley and Sons, 2001:1193-202.
  • Brain research has high returns but Europe is lagging behind
    Sobocki P, Olesen J, Jonsson B.
    Eur J Neurol 2007;14:708-10.