Long-term mortality trends in functionally-dependent adults following severe traumatic-brain injury

I. J. Baguley, M. T. Nott, S. Slewa-Younan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Primary objective: To investigate mortality trends in functionally dependent adults following traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Methods: Data for 966 consecutive admissions to a specialist TBI rehabilitation service were reviewed. Details for 69 subjects who were functionally dependent at rehabilitation discharge were cross-referenced against the State Government Death Register. The observed mortality rate was compared to an equivalent population sample derived from Australian Life Tables.
Results: Twenty-five subjects (36%) were deceased at an average 10.5 years post-injury (SD 5 years; range 1.7-18.8 years). The observed numbers of deaths far exceeded the expected population figure (1.9) for the same period (1989-2007) yielding a standardized mortality rate of 13.2. Mortality trends suggested a bimodal distribution, with more deaths in the first 5 years post-injury followed by no further deaths until 9 years post-injury.
Conclusions: Mortality in this functionally-dependent group was significantly associated with age, male sex and degree of disability at discharge. The bimodal distribution of mortality data suggests different contributory mechanisms to early vs. late mortality in this group.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)919-925
Number of pages7
JournalBrain Injury
Volume22
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adolescent Adult Age Distribution Aged Brain Injuries/*mortality Cause of Death *Disabled Persons Female Humans Injury Severity Score Male Middle Aged Patient Discharge Quality of Life Sex Distribution Survival Analysis Time Factors Young Adult

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Long-term mortality trends in functionally-dependent adults following severe traumatic-brain injury'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this