2019 Statistics on Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries are unfortunately all-too-common in the United States.  Given the focus placed on these injuries in the media, there is a new interest in these injuries. More and more, precautions are being taken to avoid these injuries. To the extent that one has suffered a traumatic brain injury, treatment has evolved in order to help patients better rehabilitate. This will impact whether and how much patients can recover in a personal injury lawsuits. More treatment options mean higher cost of injuries, and this can be compensable. 

To the extent that traumatic brain injuries appear to be on the rise, it is indisputable that that the attention focused on them has increased. This means that more people are quicker to seek treatment if they even suspect that they have a traumatic brain injuries. While it is hard to say that traumatic brain injuries are on the rise, there is a growing awareness of them. In any event, the fact that there are more hospital visits to treat these injuries means that there would be more diagnosed cases since there are cases that would have previously gone unreported that are now diagnosed. 

The Centers for Disease Control tracks statistics related to traumatic brain injuries on a periodic basis. The agency has reported this data to Congress from time to time. Congress passed legislation in 1996 that allows states to obtain information on the amount of people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries and the causes of these injuries. States are allowed to obtain these information regardless of whether the patient has consented to its release to the state. The most recent numbers were released by the CDC in 2019, tracking the time period between 2006 and 2014. 

One trend that is apparent from the numbers that CDC tracks is that the rate of death from traumatic brain injuries has declined from the 1980s. Medical treatment has advanced to care for these critical injuries and more people are seeking immediate treatment.  In addition, there have been more efforts to prevent these injuries and protect people from possible harm. 

The most recent report from the CDC about traumatic brain injuries reveals that hospitalization rates have been on the rise from the period of 2006 to 2014. The study showed that hospitalizations from these injuries have increased 53 percent from the last time that CDC compiled statistics. Of course, this does not mean that there has been an increase, just that more people are being hospitalized. It also means that traumatic brain injuries may be diagnosed more frequently than they have been in the past. In 2014, there were nearly three million hospital visits for traumatic brain injuries in that year alone. Almost one third of these hospitalizations were for children. 

Of course, the term traumatic brain injuries is a broad and encompassing term. It involves any injury to the head that can even involve a mild change in consciousness. While there are certainly severe traumatic brain injuries that can result in long-term damage, there may also be minor injuries that fall under this rubric. This category includes concussions, an area that has seen a heightened sensitivity in the wake of some of the high-profile athletic injuries in the area.

While minor concussions are certainly the most mile type of traumatic brain injury, there can also be much more severe injuries too.  In 2014, there were over 56,000 deaths that resulted from a traumatic brain injury. This included over 25,000 children.  

According to the statistics, falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries, impacting nearly half the injuries in children and 80 percent of those suffered by senior citizens. The rate of hospital visits of traumatic brain injuries from falls has nearly doubled since 2006. The second leading cause of traumatic brain injuries is motor vehicle accidents. Brain injuries suffered in car accidents tend to be the most severe given the force of the impact. 

One of the most striking statistics related to traumatic brain injuries is the costs that are associated with these injuries. The direct costs include the medical care that is necessary to treat these injuries, including hospitalization and home health care. These costs are greatly magnified when adding in the indirect costs of traumatic brain injuries. The primary element of these costs is the loss in productivity. Mostly, this results from lost wages on the part of the person suffering the injury. However, the indirect costs go beyond that because other family members may have to take off time from work in order to care for the injured. Even a 1993 study found that costs for even a mild traumatic brain injury exceeded an average of $30,000 per patient. A 2009 study showed that lost productivity costs for deaths resulting from traumatic brain injuries suffered in car accidents exceeded $1 billion.  Other studies have showed that the cost to treat a severe traumatic brain injury over the course of a lifetime exceed $2 million per patient.

If you have had a loved one who has suffered a traumatic brain injury, you are well aware of the costs that you are facing and will continue to experience. It is likely that you are suffering severe financial issues due to the costs of treating the injury and taking care of your loved one. This is further compounded if your loved one was providing an income and supporting the family. A Denver personal injury attorney can help you recover a fair amount to help you defray these costs and make up for the lost income provided that the injury was caused by someone or something else.