Mortality of elderly individuals with TBI in the first 5 years following injury.

Introduction: Although there has been a decline in the incidence of TBI in the general population, the rate of TBI in older adults has increased. Increased age has been long recognized as a predictor of worse outcomes after TBI. Despite the growing number of TBI in the elderly, our understanding of the long-term consequences of TBI is quite limited.

Methods: Chart review; individuals 55 years and older, who completed inpatient acute rehabilitation during the period 2003-2009 and who died one to four years after injury, were compared to matched patients who did not die.

Results: There were a significantly higher proportion of deceased subjects with a diagnosis of Abnormality of Gait (53%), respiratory medications at admission (32%) and discharge (17%). Deceased participants were more likely to be prescribed diabetes medication at discharge (35%) while controls were more likely to be prescribed cholesterol-lowering medications (27%) at admission. Deceased patients were discharged with significantly more medications,

Conclusions: The results suggest the need for medical and lifestyle interventions for selected elderly TBI patients. The factors related to death following TBI in the elderly are in need of more research.