Epidemiology of Traumatic Brain Injury over the World: A Systematic Review

Abstract

We identified 60 reports from 29 countries with data on Traumatic brain injury (TBI) epidemiology in the published literature. Men were at higher risk of TBI than women. The average age at the time of TBI ranged from 27 to 59.67 years while the median age ranged from 29 to 45 years. The incidence of TBI in Sweden, Italy and Norway was decreased while the incidence of TBI in Spain and Taiwan was increased. The countries with the incidence of TBI from high to low were New Zealand, United States, Spain, Sweden, South Africa, Austria, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Norway, Australia, Portugal, Finland, China, Iran, Switzerland and Belgium. The overall mild: moderate: severe ratio was 55: 27.7: 17.3 based on Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). In patients with moderate and severe TBI, death was the most common outcome. In TBI patients with all severities, good recovery was the major clinical outcome. Motor vehicle collision (MVC) was the leading cause of TBI in China, Pakistan, Japan, Australia, France, Spain, Austria, England, Croatia, Slovakia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Netherland and Italy, whereas fall was the leading cause in United States, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Scotland, Norway and Finland. The MVC-related TBIs were the most common causes in developing countries, whereas the fall-related TBIs were the most common causes in developed countries. The percentage of MVC-related TBIs was the highest in Asia. Europe had the highest percentage of fall-related TBIs and work-related TBIs. North America, followed by Oceania, had the highest percentage of sport-related TBIs.