Population based study on patients with traumatic brain injury suggests increased risk of dementia
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 08/08/2012
Clinical Article
Wang HK et al. – The findings of this study suggest an increased risk of dementia among individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The authors suggest the need for more intensive medical monitoring and health education in individuals with TBI.
Methods- This study was a retrospective cohort study. Data were obtained from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000.
- The authors included 44925 patients receiving ambulatory or hospital care and 224625 non-TBI patients; patients were matched for sex, age and year of index use of healthcare.
- Patients <15 years of age and those admitted to the intensive care unit were excluded.
- Each individual was studied for 5 years to identify the subsequent development of dementia.
- Data were analysed by Cox proportional hazard regression.
- During the 5 year follow-up period, 1196 TBI (2.66%) and 224625 non-TBI patients (1.53%) patients developed dementia.
- During the 5 year follow-up period, TBI was independently associated with a 1.68 (range 1.57-1.80) times greater risk of dementia after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and selected comorbidities.



