State-Level Numbers and Rates of Traumatic Brain Injury-Related Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths by Sex, 2014

Abstract

To provide state-level traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related emergency department (ED) visit, hospitalization, and death estimates by sex for 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Core Violence and Injury Prevention Program and State Injury Indicators-participating states. Cross-sectional. Number and rate of TBI-related ED visits, hospitalizations, and deaths (indicators) by sex in over 25 states. Across all states that supplied data, males had higher rates of TBI-related ED visits, hospitalizations, and deaths than females. However, for some indicators, high rates for both sexes and low rates for both sexes appeared clustered in a specific region of the United States. There was also within-state variability in TBI rates by indicator and sex. For example, within-state variability between sexes ranged from as low as 2.8% for ED visits and as high as 335% for deaths. TBI-related ED visits, hospitalizations, and deaths varied by state and by sex, and evidence was found for within-state variability in TBI rates by indicator and sex in 2014. Differences in TBI indicators by sex may have important implications for public health professionals implementing TBI prevention and care strategies at the state level.