title: Adult sports-related traumatic brain injury in United States trauma centers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE Sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important public health concern estimated to affect 300,000 to 3.8 million people annually in the United States. Although injuries to professional athletes dominate the media, this group represents only a small proportion of the overall population. Here, the authors characterize the demographics of sports-related TBI in adults from a community-based trauma population and identify predictors of prolonged hospitalization and increased morbidity and mortality rates. METHODS Utilizing the National Sample Program of the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB), the authors retrospectively analyzed sports-related TBI data from adults (age ≥ 18 years) across 5 sporting categories-fall or interpersonal contact (FIC), roller sports, skiing/snowboarding, equestrian sports, and aquatic sports. Multivariable regression analysis was used to identify predictors of prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS), medical complications, inpatient mortality rates, and hospital discharge disposition. Statistical significance was assessed at α < 0.05, and the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was applied for each outcome analysis. RESULTS From 2003 to 2012, in total, 4788 adult sports-related TBIs were documented in the NTDB, which represented 18,310 incidents nationally. Equestrian sports were the greatest contributors to sports-related TBI (45.2%). Mild TBI represented nearly 86% of injuries overall. Mean (± SEM) LOSs in the hospital or intensive care unit (ICU) were 4.25 ± 0.09 days and 1.60 ± 0.06 days, respectively. The mortality rate was 3.0% across all patients, but was statistically higher in TBI from roller sports (4.1%) and aquatic sports (7.7%). Age, hypotension on admission to the emergency department (ED), and the severity of head and extracranial injuries were statistically significant predictors of prolonged hospital and ICU LOSs, medical complications, failure to discharge to home, and death. Traumatic brain injury during aquatic sports was similarly associated with prolonged ICU and hospital LOSs, medical complications, and failure to be discharged to home. CONCLUSIONS Age, hypotension on ED admission, severity of head and extracranial injuries, and sports mechanism of injury are important prognostic variables in adult sports-related TBI. Increasing TBI awareness and helmet use-particularly in equestrian and roller sports-are critical elements for decreasing sports-related TBI events in adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco; and.|Brain and Spinal Injury Center, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Ethan A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco; and.|Brain and Spinal Injury Center, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: John K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco; and.|Brain and Spinal Injury Center, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco; and.|Brain and Spinal Injury Center, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Andrew K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco; and.|Brain and Spinal Injury Center, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Sanjay S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Dhall
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco; and.
authors.forename: Mitchel S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco; and.|Brain and Spinal Injury Center, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Geoffrey T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Manley
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco; and.|Brain and Spinal Injury Center, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Phiroz E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Tarapore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013177:Sports; D014193:Trauma Centers; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Charlson Comorbidity Index = CCI; ED = emergency department; FIC = fall or interpersonal contact; GCS = Glasgow Coma Scale; ICD-9 = International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision; ICU = intensive care unit; ISS = Injury Severity Score; LOS = length of stay; NSP = National Sample Program; NTDB = National Trauma Data Bank; TBI = traumatic brain injury; concussion; mortality; outcome; sports; traumatic brain injury