Citation

Harvey LA, Close JC. Injury 2012; 43(11): 1821-1826.

Affiliation

Falls and Injury Prevention Group, Neuroscience Research Australia, University of New South Wales, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.injury.2012.07.188

PMID

22884759

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic brain injury is of particular concern in the older population. We aimed to examine the trends in hospitalisations, causes and consequences of TBI in older adults in New South Wales, Australia. METHODS: TBI cases from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 2011 were identified from hospitalisation data for all public and private hospitals in NSW. Direct aged standardised admission rates were calculated. Negative binomial regression modelling was used to examine the statistical significance of changes in trend over time. RESULTS: There were 12,564 hospitalisations for TBI over the 13year study period. Hospitalisation rates for TBI among the older population increased by 7.2% (95% CI 6.4-8.0, p<.0001) per year from 19.3/100,000 to 72.2/100,000. Males had a consistently higher hospitalisation rate. Just under one third of all hospitalisations were for adults aged 85 years and over. Traumatic subdural haemorrhage (42.9%), concussive injury (24.1%) and traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage (12.7%) were the most common type of injury. Falls were the most common cause of TBI (82.9%). Rates of fall-related TBI increased by 8.4% (95% CI 7.5-9.3, p<.001) per year, whilst non-fall related head injury increased by 2.1% (95% CI 0.9-3.3, p<.0001) per year. The majority of falls were as a result of a fall on the same level and occurred at home. 13% of hospitalisations resulted in death, and the majority occurred in those who sustained a traumatic subdural haemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: The rapid increase in hospitalised TBI is being predominantly driven by falls in the oldest old and the greatest increase predominantly in intracranial haemorrhages, highlighting the need for future research to quantify the risk versus benefit of anticoagulant therapies.

Language: en