Population-based study of potential brain injuries

Brain injury is an important health concern, yet there have been few population-based analyses on which to base prevention initiatives. In this study, William Pickett and colleagues studied the blunt head traumas seen at emergency departments in Kingston in 1998 to calculate the rates of potential brain injury and to describe the various causes of these injuries.

The authors report that the annual rate of potential brain injury was 16 per 10 000 among males and 7 per 10 000 among females, with the greatest disparity between the sexes occurring among those aged 10 to 19 years. Pickett and colleagues also found that the leading causes of potential brain injury were age dependent. People under 10 years old most often suffered brain injuries in falls from heights, those over 65 from falls of any kind, and accidents involving motor vehicles or bicycles, sports-related injuries or fights were the most common causes for those 10 to 44 years old.

Contact: Dr. Robert Brison, Department
of Emergency Medicine, Queen’s
University and Kingston General
Hospital; tel. 613 548-2368,
email: [email protected]