Facts about Traumatic Brain Injury

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.

How many people have TBI?

Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:

 50,000 die; 

 235,000 are hospitalized; and 

 1.1 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 (28%);

 Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%); 

 Struck by/against events (19%); and

 Assaults (11%).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
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

Updated 7/06

1. Langlois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE.

Traumatic brain injury in the United States: 

emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and

deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and

Control; 2006.

2. Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC).

[unpublished]. Washington (DC): U.S. Department of

Defense; 2005.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Corrigan JD, Whiteneck G, Mellick D. Perceived

needs following traumatic brain injury. Journal of

Head Trauma Rehabilitation 2004;19(3):205-16.

7. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and

8.

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.

Collaborating Organizations References

Ylvisaker M, Todis B, Glang A, et al. Educating 

students with TBI: themes and recommendations. 

Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 2001; 

16:76-93.