New Study Shows Older Adults At Risk of TBI

Around 1.5 million men, women and children will suffer a Traumatic Brain Injury in Kentucky and nationally this year.

New research from Finland shows that older adults are at greatest risk of TBI – and most of these injuries occur by falling.

“Traumatic brain injury is a major cause of hospitalization, disability, and death worldwide, and among older adults, falling is the most common cause of TBI,” says Niina Korhonen, B.M., of the Injury and Osteoporosis Research Center in Finland in an article in Science Codex.

The Center’s research – which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association – analyzes the number of Finnish adults 80 years and older who had to be admitted to a hospital after suffering a head injury in a fall since 1970.

Their findings: TBI injuries in the elderly are increasing at an alarming rate.

“Our 40-year follow-up shows that the number and age-adjusted incidence of fall-induced TBI in Finnish men and women aged 80 years or older increased considerably between 1970 and 2011,” the authors said in the article. “Compared with the data in our previous study, the increase has continued since 1999.”

The total number of older Finnish adults with a fall-induced TBI increased considerably from 60 women and 25 men in 1970 to 1,205 women and 612 men in 2011.

The age-adjusted incidence of TBI (per 100,000 persons) also showed an increase from 168.2 women in 1970 to 653.6 in 2011 (an increase of 289 percent) and from 174.6 to 724.0, respectively, in men (an increase of 315 percent).

Research also reveals a link between Alzheimer’s disease and TBI. A moderate head injury can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s by 2.3 times. A severe injury can make Alzheimer’s 4.5 times more likely.

Six Causes of TBI in Kentucky

TBI has been called a silent epidemic. It is typically caused by a bump, blow or violent impact to the head.

An estimated 5.3 million Americans – or two percent of the national population – have a disability resulting from TBI.

Here are some TBI causes:

• Falls. Anyone – not just the elderly – can suffer a brain injury by falling and striking their head on a hard surface.
• Sports-related concussions. An estimated 1.6 to 3.8 million brain injuries result from sports accidents each year.
• Playground accidents. Children fall off slides, swings and climbing toys.
• Motor vehicle crashes. Even in a relatively minor collision, the head can be whipped violently back and forth, causing a jarring of the brain.
• Assaults. Brain injury can result from being punched, struck or knocked down.
• Explosions. Military personnel suffer TBIs in blasts and detonations. Veterans’ advocates believe between 10 and 20 percent of Iraq veterans – or between 150,000 and 300,000 service members – have some level of TBI.
• Workplace accidents. Workers sustain TBIs when they are struck by falling objects, trapped under debris or crushed by heavy equipment.

In some cases, TBI victims might be entitled to compensation by filing a Kentucky personal injury claim.

Sources:

• Science Codex http://www.sciencecodex.com/study_finds_increase_in_fallrelated_traumatic_brain_injuries_among_elderly_men_and_women-111795
• Brain Trauma Organization https://www.braintrauma.org/tbi-faqs/tbi-statistics/