Traumatic Brain Injuries in Children and Young Adults: A Birth Cohort Study from Northern Finland

Abstract

Aims: Incidence and mortality rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI) were investigated by using the Northern Finland Birth Cohort. This cohort provides a valuable source of data from the population born in 1966 (n = 12,058) in the 2 northernmost provinces of Finland. Methods: The cohort was followed for 34 years, and data were gathered from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and the Registry for Causes of Death by Statistics Finland. Results: The annual incidence of and mortality from TBI were 118 and 14/100,000, respectively. Case fatality was 12%. An estimated prevalence of TBI at the age of 34 years was 269/100,000. Peak occurrences were observed at the age of 6–7 years in both genders and at the age of 18–23 years in men. The proportion of TBI mortality out of total mortality was 12%. Young men aged 16–34 years had 10-fold proportionate mortality from TBI compared to boys aged ≤15 years. Alcohol drinking was associated with a particularly prominent number of intentional injuries in young men. Conclusion: Incidence and mortality rates of TBI vary according to age and gender. Peaks occur in children at the age of school entry and in men at the age of 18–23 years. Children have mild injuries, whereas the injuries of young men are frequently intentional and fatal and associated with alcohol drinking.

The scope of early traumatic brain injury as a long-term health concern in two nationwide samples: Prevalence and prognostic factors

“…This is supported by previous reports [17,64] that the incidence of paediatric TBI in Iceland is similar to other western countries and by the present 7.6% prevalence of having been hospitalized with TBI, which is comparable to the 4-12% reported elsewhere [18,23,30]. The findings have important implications for injury prevention, healthcare planning, cognitive health concerns and compensation issues.…”

“…The prevalence of reported TBI-related long-term disability is also distinctly higher than previously suggested [10,14,23,[30][31][32].…”

“…Bearing these limitations in mind, it has been estimated that the overall annual incidence of medically diagnosed paediatric TBI may be 600-900 per 100 000 [13,[15][16][17][18] and the annual incidence of paediatric TBI leading to hospital admission 100-300 per 100 000 [13,17,[19][20][21][22][23]. Recently, studies have reported a decrease in hospitalizations in the case of mild paediatric TBI [15,16,24,25], emphasizing the importance of identifying TBI severity accurately at emergency departments (EDs).…”

“…Also based on self-report, higher prevalence has been described in samples of young university athletes, 63-70% [29]. The estimated prevalence of TBI leading to hospital admission in the young adult population may be 4-12% [18,23,30]. Regarding TBI outcome, it has been estimated that the overall prevalence of living with long-term TBI-related disability is 0.3-2% [10,14,23,[30][31][32].…”

Neuroendocrine Disturbances after Brain Damage: An Important and Often Undiagnosed Disorder

“…The mean incidence rate of hospitalized and fatal TBI and the average mortality rate have been reported as 235 per 100,000 and about 15 per 100,000, respectively, in Europe [1]. Winqvist et al reported that by the age of 35, 3.8% of the subjects in their northern Finland birth cohort study had experienced at least one hospitalization for TBI [2]. A huge number of people are seen in emergency departments; the great majority of them, about 235,000 each year, are hospitalized because of non-fatal TBI, and approximately 50,000 die according to reports from the United States [3].…”