Long-term survival of children and adolescents after traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To obtain information on long-term mortality risk and life expectancy after traumatic brain injury (TBI), to improve planning and for counseling patients and their families. In contrast to the literature for spinal cord injury and other disabilities, there have been few such reports for TBI.


METHODS
Records were reviewed on 946 persons aged 5 to 21 years who had sustained TBI. All were patients who subsequently received disability services in California, 1987 to 1995.


RESULTS
The chief predictors of mortality were basic functional skills such as mobility and self-feeding. After the initial high-risk period, mortality risk for TBI was much lower than for similarly functioning persons with cerebral palsy (a comparison group), although after 10 years the two sets of mortality rates had largely converged. For high-functioning persons, life expectancies were only 3 to 5 years shorter than for the general population. By contrast, the remaining life expectancy for those without mobility 6 months after injury was only 15 years.
Strauss
D J
DJ
Department of Statistics, University of California, Riverside 92521, USA.
Shavelle
R M
RM
Anderson
T W
TW
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000401:mortality* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000401:mortality* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D010348:Patient Care Team; D012306:Risk; D016019:Survival Analysis