How Many People Have TBI?

Data are critical to understand traumatic brain injury (TBI) as an important public health problem. This data can help inform TBI prevention strategies, identify research and education priorities, and support the need for services among those living with a TBI

National TBI Estimates

Each year, an estimated 1.7 million people sustain a TBI annually.¹

TBI is a contributing factor to a third (30.5%) of all injury-related deaths in the United States.¹

About 75% of TBIs that occur each year are concussions or other forms of mild TBI.²

TBI by Age¹

• Children aged 0 to 4 years, older adolescents aged 15 to 19 years, and adults aged 65 years and older are most likely to sustain a TBI. 
• Almost half a million (473,947) emergency department visits for TBI are made annually by children aged 0 to 14 years.
• Adults aged 75 years and older have the highest rates of TBI-related hospitalization and death.

TBI by Gender¹

• In every age group, TBI rates are higher for males than for females.
• Males aged 0 to 4 years have the highest rates of TBI-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths.

TBI Estimates by State

CDC currently funds 30 states to conduct basic TBI surveillance through the CORE state Injury Program.

To find TBI-related death and hospitalization data by participating CORE states, see State Injury Indicators Web-based Query System. (Note: Not all states participate in the submission of TBI- and other injury-related data compiled in this report.)

Costs of TBI

Direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost productivity of TBI totaled an estimated $76.5 billion in the United States in 2000.^3,4

References

1. Faul M, Xu L, Wald MM, Coronado VG. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2010.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Report to Congress on mild traumatic brain injury in the United States: steps to prevent a serious public health problem. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2003.
3. Finkelstein E, Corso P, Miller T and associates. The Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States. New York (NY): Oxford University Press; 2006.
4. Coronado, McGuire, Faul, Sugerman, Pearson. The Epidemiology and Prevention of TBI (in press) 2012.