After Head Injury Case Study
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2011 - The threat of death after head injury remained significantly increased for as long as 12 years, irrespective of the severity of the injury, results of a case-control study showed.
Among young adults, the risk disparity ballooned to more than a fivefold difference, Scottish investigators reported online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
Overall, patients with a history of head injury had more than a twofold greater risk of death than did two control groups of individuals without head injury.
“As might be expected following an injury, the highest rate of death occurred in the first year after head injury,” they continued. “However, risk of death remained high for at least a further 12 years when, for example, death was 2.8 times more likely …show more content…
Mortality after one year remained significantly higher in the head-injury group—34 percent versus 24 percent among the hospitalized comparison group and 16 percent for the healthy non-hospitalized adults.
The disparity was greater among younger adults (15 to 54), who had a rate of 17.36/1,000/year versus 2.21/1,000/year in the community controls. Older adults in the head injury group had a death rate of 61.47/1,000/year compared with 39.45/1,000/year in the community controls.
Overall, the head-injury group had a death rate of 30.99/1,000/ year versus 13.72/1,000/year in the community controls and 21.85/1,000/year in the hospitalized-other injury control group. “Demographic factors do not explain the risk of death late after head injury, and there is a need to further consider factors that might lead to health vulnerability after head injury and in this way explain the range of causes of death,” the authors wrote in conclusion. “The elevated risk of mortality after mild head injury and in younger adults makes further study in this area a
Among young adults, the risk disparity ballooned to more than a fivefold difference, Scottish investigators reported online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
Overall, patients with a history of head injury had more than a twofold greater risk of death than did two control groups of individuals without head injury.
“As might be expected following an injury, the highest rate of death occurred in the first year after head injury,” they continued. “However, risk of death remained high for at least a further 12 years when, for example, death was 2.8 times more likely …show more content…
Mortality after one year remained significantly higher in the head-injury group—34 percent versus 24 percent among the hospitalized comparison group and 16 percent for the healthy non-hospitalized adults.
The disparity was greater among younger adults (15 to 54), who had a rate of 17.36/1,000/year versus 2.21/1,000/year in the community controls. Older adults in the head injury group had a death rate of 61.47/1,000/year compared with 39.45/1,000/year in the community controls.
Overall, the head-injury group had a death rate of 30.99/1,000/ year versus 13.72/1,000/year in the community controls and 21.85/1,000/year in the hospitalized-other injury control group. “Demographic factors do not explain the risk of death late after head injury, and there is a need to further consider factors that might lead to health vulnerability after head injury and in this way explain the range of causes of death,” the authors wrote in conclusion. “The elevated risk of mortality after mild head injury and in younger adults makes further study in this area a