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 litera ture for spinal cord injury and other disabilities, there have been fe w such reports for TBI. Design: Records were reviewed on 946 persons a ged 5 to 21 years who had sustained TBI. All were patients who subsequ ently received disability services in California, 1987 to 1995. Result s: The chief predictors of mortality were basic functional skills such as mobility and self-feeding. After the initial high-risk period, mor tality risk for TBI was much lower than for similarly functioning pers ons with cerebral palsy (a comparison group), although after 10 years the two sets of mortality rates had largely converged. For high-functi oning persons, life expectancies were only 3 to 5 years shorter than f or the general population. By contrast, the remaining life expectancy for those without mobility 6 months after injury was only 15 years. (C ) 1998 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Ame rican Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.