How common are traumatic brain injuries?
Traumatic brain injuries are a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States, particularly among persons below the age of 45. Each year in the United States, nearly 500,000 people are seen in hospital emergency rooms because of a traumatic brain injury. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 55,000 deaths each year result from TBI and that another 80,000 individuals each year are left with long term physical and psychological disabilities that limit their independence and ability to work. Texas is the second most populous state in the United States, and accordingly, CDC statistics indicate that it is second in the nation in terms of occurrences of traumatic brain injury. The CDC reports that 144,000 Texans sustain a traumatic brain injury annually. Of these, 5,728 are permanently disabled yearly from TBI, and 4,214 Texans die each year from a catastrophic TBI. The 75-county North Texas area is the most populous region in the stat
