Increased Risk of Death Following Brain Damage

A study in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation on the causes of death one year following a traumatic brain injury (TBI)  reported some very disturbing findings

The comprehensive study utilized data from the TBI Model Systems National Database, the Social Security Death Index, death certificates, and the US population age-race-gender-cause-specific mortality rates for 1994. It reports on two thousand one hundred forty individuals with TBI completing inpatient rehabilitation in 1 of 15 National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research-funded TBI Model Systems of Care between 1988 and 2001, and surviving past 1 year post injury.

The study reported that individuals with TBI were about 37 times more likely to die of seizures, 12 times more likely to die of septicemia, 4 times more likely to die of pneumonia, and about 3 times more likely to die of other respiratory conditions (excluding pneumonia), digestive conditions, and all external causes of injury/poisoning than were individuals in the general population of similar age, gender and race.

The full study can be found at:  J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2006 Jan-Feb;21(1):22-33