Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) arises from traumatic insults to the brain and head (vehicle collisions, falls, sports injuries, assaults, electrocution).
Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) includes TBI plus non-traumatic causes (stroke, aneurysm, arterial venous malformation, tumors, anoxic events, surgical mishaps, infections).
- TBI is estimated to occur at an annual rate of 5 per 1000 persons.((Langois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE, Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States, Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2006.))
- Statistically, TBI occurs at a rate 100 times that of spinal cord injury.((Won Hyung A. Ryu, Anthony Feinstein, Angela Colantonio, David L. Streiner, Deirdre R. Dawson, Early Identification and Incidence of Mild TBI in Ontario, The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, Volume 36, Number 4, 429 – 435, July 2009.))
- When ABI and TBI are included together, estimates suggest up to 1 in 25 persons in Canada may be living with some level of ongoing disability from a brain injury.((http://www.vistacentre.ca/_files/statistics.pdf (4% figure); see also Brain Disorders in Ontario: Prevalence, Incidence and Costs from Health Administrative Data, Ontario Brain Institute July 2015 at 148 (incidence of TBI alone approaching 2% of population in Ontario in April 2010 assessment).))
- While awareness and diagnosis of TBI is improving, missed cases, misdiagnosis and misattribution are commonly reported in the relevant clinic literature.((Silver, McAllister and Arcienegas, Textbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 3rd ed. 2019; see also Zasler and Katz, Brain Injury Medicine: Principles and Practice, 2nd. Ed. 2012.))
- Post ABI, persons are seven times more likely to develop symptoms of mental illness.((Jeffrey M. Rogers; Christina A. Read; Psychiatric comorbidity following traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, Volume 21, Issue 13 & 14 December, pages 1321 – 1333, 2007.))
The effect of brain injury is not limited to the health consequences for the victim. For example:
- Youth convicted of a crime are more likely to have suffered a pre-crime brain injury.((Williams WH, Chitsabesan P, Fazel S, et al. Traumatic brain injury: a potential cause of violent crime? [published correction
appears in Lancet Psychiatry. 2018 Jul 17;:]. Lancet Psychiatry. 2018;5(10):836–844. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30062-2.)) - It has been estimated that over 85% of incarcerated individuals have a brain injury.((Slaughter B, Fann JR, Ehde D. Traumatic brain injury in a county jail population: prevalence, neuropsychological functioning
and psychiatric disorders. Brain Injury 2003;17(9):731-41.)) - A survey of Vancouver’s homeless population found that 66% reported a brain injury and of those 77% were injured prior to becoming homeless.((https://pacificaidsnetwork.org/files/2012/07/BC-Health-of-the-Homeless-Survey-FINAL1.pdf Krausz, Dr. Reinhard
Michael, British Columbia Health of the Homeless Survey Report, page 29, 2011.)) - Estimates put the brain injury rate among indigenous persons at 4-5 time the rate in the non-indigenous population.((Lasry O, Dudley RW, Fuhrer R, Torrie J, Carlin R, Marcoux J, Traumatic brain injury in a rural indigenous population in Canada:
a community-based approach to surveillance, doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20150105cmajo May 26, 2016 vol. 4 no. 2 E249-E259.))