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Article Title: Prevalence of traumatic brain injury amongst children admitted to hospital in one health district: a population-based study AbstractThere is a dearth of information regarding the prevalence of brain injury, serious enough to require hospital admission, amongst children in the United Kingdom. In North Staffordshire a register of all children admitted with traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been maintained since 1992 presenting an opportunity to investigate the incidence of TBI within the region in terms of age, cause of injury, injury severity and social deprivation. The register contains details of 1553 children with TBI, two thirds of whom are male.This population-based study shows that TBI is most prevalent amongst children from families living in more deprived areas, however, social deprivation was not related to the cause of injury. Each year, 280 per 100,000 children are admitted for ≥24 hours with a TBI, of these 232 will have a mild brain injury, 25 moderate, 17 severe, and 2 will die. The incidence of moderate and severe injuries is higher than previous estimates. Children under 2 years old account for 18.5% of all TBIs, usually due to falls, being dropped or non-accidental injuries. Falls account for 60% of TBIs in the under 5s. In the 10-15 age group road traffic accidents were the most common cause (185, 36.7%). These findings will help to plan health services and target accident prevention initiatives more accurately.

Objectives: To identify outcomes following head injury (HI) among a population of children admitted to one hospital centre and to compare outcomes between different severity groups. Methods: A postal follow up of children admitted with HI to one National Health Service Trust, between 1992 and 1998, was carried out. Children were aged 5-15 years at injury (mean 9.8), followed up at a mean of 2.2 years post-injury. Parents of 526 injured children (419 mild, 58 moderate, 49 severe) and 45 controls completed questionnaires. Outcomes were assessed using the King's Outcome Scale for Childhood Head Injury (KOSCHI). Results: Frequent behavioural, emotional, memory, and attention problems were reported by one third of the severe group, one quarter of the moderate, and 10-18% of the mild. Personality change since HI was reported for 148 children (28%; 21% mild HI, 46% moderate, 69% severe). There was a significant relationship between injury severity and KOSCHI outcomes. Following the HI, 252 (48%) had moderate disability (43% mild HI, 64% moderate, 69% severe), while 270 (51%) made a good recovery (57% mild HI, 36% moderate, 22% severe). There was a significant association between social deprivation and poor outcome (p = 0.002). Only 30% (158) of children received hospital follow up after the HI. All children with severe disability received appropriate follow up, but 64% of children with moderate disability received none. No evidence was found to suggest a threshold of injury severity below which the risk of late sequelae could be safely discounted. Conclusions: Children admitted with mild HI may be at risk of poor outcomes, but often do not receive routine hospital follow up. A postal questionnaire combined with the KOSCHI to assess outcomes after HI may be used to identify children who would benefit from clinical assessment. Further research is needed to identify factors that place children with mild HI at risk of late morbidity.

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