Epidemiology of Traumatic Brain Injury in Europe: A Living Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic review provides a comprehensive, up-to-date summary of traumatic brain injury (TBI) epidemiology in Europe, describing incidence, mortality, age, and sex distribution, plus severity, mechanism of injury, and time trends. PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched in January 2015 for observational, descriptive, English language studies reporting incidence, mortality, or case fatality of TBI in Europe. There were no limitations according to date, age, or TBI severity. Methodological quality was assessed using the Methodological Evaluation of Observational Research checklist. Data were presented narratively. Sixty-six studies were included in the review. Country-level data were provided in 22 studies, regional population or treatment center catchment area data were reported by 44 studies. Crude incidence rates varied widely. For all ages and TBI severities, crude incidence rates ranged from 47.3 per 100,000, to 694 per 100,000 population per year (country-level studies) and 83.3 per 100,000, to 849 per 100,000 population per year (regionallevel studies). Crude mortality rates ranged from 9 to 28.10 per 100,000 population per year (country-level studies), and 3.3 to 24.4 per 100,000 population per year (regional-level studies.) The most common mechanisms of injury were traffic accidents and falls. Over time, the contribution of traffic accidents to total TBI events may be reducing. Case ascertainment and definitions of TBI are variable. Improved standardization would enable more accurate comparisons.

The Increasing Age of TBI Patients at a Single Level 1 Trauma Center and the Discordance Between GCS and CT Rotterdam Scores in the Elderly

“…Historically, motor vehicle crash (MVC) has been the leading cause of TBI in the United States, but analysis of recent demographic data highlights a growing proportion of fall-related injuries, surpassing MVCs as the leading cause of TBI in developed countries (1,3). Similar trends have also been seen in Europe (4).…”

Incidence and Prevalence of Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The Methodological Evaluation of Observational Research (MORE) checklist [21] was used to verify methodological quality and risk of bias. This checklist was designed for quality and bias assessment in incidence or prevalence studies of chronic diseases, and was previously used in several systematic reviews [22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Two authors (M.C.B., H.F.L.)…”

Early diagnosis of traumatic intracranial hematomas

“…Other types of acquired brain injury such as stroke and meningitis are classified as nontraumatic. 24 A highly individualized injury, TBI severity depends on the nature of the injury, strength of the force, area of the brain affected, as well as physical and genetic variations among patients. The damage from TBI can be localized (focal), confined to one area of the brain, or diffuse, involving more than one area of the brain.…”