CDC: Kids under 15 most common ER visitors for brain injury
Younger people are more likely to be checking into emergency departments for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) than any other age group, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In an analysis of 97 hospitals’ inpatient administrative claims data and 88 hospitals’ ambulatory claims data from 2013, the CDC found a total of 62,806 encounters for TBI. More than 38 percent of those encounters were for children under the age of 15, with patients between 15 and 24 accounting for another 15.8 percent.
The age distribution changed when looking at different settings, where greater percentages of older patients had a first-listed diagnosis of TBI. Of the 11,473 inpatient encounters, 16 percent of those visits were made by adults between the ages of 75 and 84.
Under all three settings, however, the percentages of children under 15 seen for these injuries were higher than the percentages of children seen overall.
- Emergency department: 25.2 percent of all visits for were children under 15, 38.3 percent of all TBI visits.
- Inpatient: 9.4 percent of all hospitalizations, 14.5 percent of all TBI hospitalizations.
- Outpatient: 13.8 percent of all visits, 16.7 percent of all TBI visits.
Males accounted for a higher percentage of TBI encounters and visits in all three settings.
Younger people most often had injuries caused by the same factors than other patients. Falls accounted for most TBI visits among all patients (46 percent in the emergency department, 45.8 percent in inpatient setting). When broken down by age in the emergency department, falls were the cause for most TBI visits except among in the 15-24 age group, where “accidental strikes from falling objects or against objects or persons” was the top cause, and in the 25-34 age group, injuries from motor vehicles were most common.
The CDC also compiled data on services provided on TBI encounters, with a CT scan being the most common diagnostic services. Among inpatient encounters, 86.5 percent of TBI patients underwent a CT scan.
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.