Our team evaluated the latest research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find the most recent and useful statistics on traumatic brain injuries in the United States.
How Common Are Traumatic Brain Injuries?
In 2017, approximately 5 million individuals throughout the United States had a disability resulting from traumatic brain injury.
Traumatic brain injuries were responsible for approximately 2.8 million hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths throughout the United States in 2013.
Between 2007 and 2013, hospitalization rates related to TBI dropped 2.5 percent while fatality rates dropped 5 percent. Emergency department visits related to TBI, on the other hand, rose 47 percent.
Every year throughout the United States, approximately 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury.
Traumatic Brain Injury Fatality Statistics
Traumatic brain injuries are responsible for approximately 30 percent of injury deaths. Throughout the United States, 153 people die every day from injuries that include TBI.
There were more than 50,000 deaths among almost 3 million reported cases of TBI in 2014.
Most Common Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries
Falls were responsible for 47 percent of TBI-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths throughout the United States in 2013, making them the leading cause of traumatic brain injury that year.
The second leading cause of traumatic brain injury throughout the United States in 2013 was getting struck by an object. This scenario accounted for approximately 15 percent of all TBI-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths.
In 2013, motor-vehicle collisions were the third leading cause of TBI-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths (14 percent) throughout the United States among individuals in every age group. That same year, car accidents were also responsible for 19 percent of all TBI-related deaths, making them the third leading cause.
For people between the ages of 5 and 24, motor-vehicle collisions were the primary cause of TBI-related deaths in 2013.
For adolescents, as well as people between the ages of 15 and 44, car accidents were the primary cause of TBI-related hospital visits in 2013.
For children up to 14 years of age, falls were responsible for 54 percent of TBI-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths in 2013.
Among people who were at least 65 years old, falls were responsible for 79 percent of TBI-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths in 2013.
Emergency departments throughout the United States treated approximately 329,290 patients under the age of 20 for recreation or sports-related injuries that included a TBI in 2012.
Recreational and sporting activities are responsible for about 20 percent of all TBIs in the United States.
Between 2001 and 2012, the rate of emergency department visits for recreation and sports-related injuries that included a TBI either alone or with additional injuries increased more than twofold among children who were 19 or younger.
Costs & Effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries
The estimated annual cost of a TBI per patient is $65,000 to $120,000.
The lifetime cost of a traumatic brain injury ranges from $85,000 to $3 million.
Approximately 124,600 individuals with TBI suffer physical disability or long-term cognitive impairment as a result of their injury.
Recent data released by the CDC indicates approximately 5.3 million people throughout the United States live with a TBI-related disability that is permanent.
Approximately 43 percent of people who are hospitalized after sustaining a TBI suffer a related disability 12 months after the accident.
Traumatic Brain Injuries by Age
Among children up to 14 years of age, about 511,000 traumatic brain injuries occur.
People who are at least 75 years old are the most likely to experience TBI-related hospitalizations and fatalities.
