The Brain Injury Association of America and it’s partners have designated March as “Brain Injury Awareness Month” with the goal of raising public awareness about brain injury so that there is a decrease in the growing number of injuries sustained every year, an increase in the number of people practicing preventive behaviors, and a change in the public’s attitude toward individuals with brain injury. For more information, visit the Association’s website www.biausa.org.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and is associated with an estimated yearly 1.1 million emergency department visits, 235,000 hospitalizations, and 50,000 deaths in the United States. The number of people who sustain a TBI but are not seen in an emergency department or do not receive care is unknown. The CDC defines a TBI as a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain. TBI results in a range of dysfunction from a brief change in mental status to unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes including physical disability and loss of independence, as well as changes that affect thinking, language, learning, emotions and behavior. The CDC estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans have long-term or lifelong disabilities as a result of TBI that require help to perform activities of daily living. The direct medical costs and indirect costs of treating TBI total in the billions every year. According to the CDC, falls are the leading cause of TBI in the United States. Motor vehicle/pedestrian crashes are second. 1

Traumatic Brain Injury among Older Adults
•Falls are by far the leading cause of TBI among older adults
•Persons aged 75 years and older have the highest age-specific rate of TBI-related hospitalizations. For all age groups combined, rates are highest among males.2
•Older age is recognized as an independent predictor of worse outcome from this type of injury resulting in longer, more costly rehabilitation. The presence of a higher number of medical co-morbidities (e.g. pre-existing cerebral atherosclerosis, use of anticoagulant therapies, etc.) has been associated with a greater risk of complications which lengthen hospital stays and increases mortality. 3
•There is an increased risk of repetitive falls among TBI patients, and therefore an increased risk for repetitive TBI.