BACKGROUND: Understanding the factors related to traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related mortality is important in obtaining a complete picture of the predictors and burden of injury-related deaths.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze deaths due to TBI occurring inside versus outside hospitals.
METHODS: Data were obtained by requests to the representatives of national statistical offices and health administration institutions for one reported calendar year (2014 or the nearest available year).
RESULTS: A total of 4513 cases of TBI-related deaths were identified. Of these, 2045 (45%) occurred outside and 2468 (55%) in hospitals. The pooled out-of-hospital age-adjusted mortality rate was 5.5 (95% CI = 4.8-6.3), and in-hospital age-adjusted rate was 6.6 (95% CI = 5.2-7.9) per 100 000 people. Outside (25%) or inside (53%) hospitals, the most common cause of TBI-related deaths was falls. The age group of 15-24 years and traffic-related, suicide-related, and violence-related mechanisms were the most significant factors associated with deaths occurring outside hospitals.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study may be of use in planning and allocation of public health resources, and identification of the situations most commonly associated with fatalities in different locations.
Language: en
Keywords
Traumatic brain injury; death certification; deaths; location of death; mechanism of injuries