5Sep/090
Traumatic Brain Injury
The common general term for brain injuries that impair thinking as a result of physical trauma severe enough to cause loss of consciousness or damage to the brain structure. Each year, about two million Americans sustain a brain injury—about one every 15 seconds. More than a million of these are sustained by children, 30,000 of whom will have permanent disabilities.
Boys are twice as likely to be injured as girls, especially between the ages of 14 and 24, followed by infants, and then the elderly. Children are more likely to incur traumatic bran injury during the spring and summer. Traffic accidents account for almost half of the injuries; about 34 percent occur at home and the rest in recreation areas.