Long-term damage seen from brain injuries — Study

MIAMI: Youths who suffer traumatic brain injuries such as concussions are more likely than their unharmed siblings of experiencing long-term psychological and social problems, a major study said Tuesday.

The study in the journal PLOS Medicine included some 100,000 children and adolescents in Sweden who were born between 1973 and 1985 and had sustained at least one traumatic brain injury, or TBI, before the age of 25.

They compared this group to their unaffected siblings, and followed them into adulthood, until age 41.

“We found TBI consistently predicted later risk of premature mortality, psychiatric inpatient admission, psychiatric outpatient visits, disability pension, welfare recipiency, and low educational attainment,” said the study said the study, led by Seena Fazel of the University of Oxford.

“The effects were stronger for those with greater injury severity, recurrence, and older age at fi rst injury.”

TBI is the leading cause of injury and death among people under 45 around the globe, according to background information in the article.

About nine per cent of youth are believed to suffer some sort of TBI in their lives, according the analysis which was based on Swedish health registries including more than one million people. — AFP