Personal Injury Law

New Study Confirms that "Head Injury" Viewed by Public as Being Less Serious Than "Traumatic Brain Injury"

By Bruce Stern

A number of years ago, the Brain Injury Association of America retained the Gallop Group to conduct a poll to gather information regarding the public's awareness of traumatic brain injury.  One of the things learned from the polling results was that the public viewed the term 'head injury' as being less serious than the term 'traumatic brain injury.'
 
A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics confirmed that perception. Carol A. DeMatteo, M.S.c and her colleagues at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, conducted a study, the goal of which was to examine the clinical correlation of the concussion diagnosis and to identify the factors that lead to the use of this term in a regional pediatric center.
 
According to the abstract, the researchers collected data respectively from 434 children with traumatic brain injury who were admitted to a Canadian childrens hospital.  The researchers found that children with mild traumatic brain injuries have an increased frequency of receiving the concussion label, although the label may also be applied to children with more-severe injuries.  The study found the clinicians may use the concussion label because it is less alarming to parents then the term mild brain injury with the intent of implying that the injury is transient with no significant long-term health consequences.
 
In the study, the doctors followed children who had been given a diagnosis of either concussion or traumatic brain injury.  The study found that in the days following their injuries, those with a diagnosis of concussion were one and a half times as likely to be discharged from the hospital as those with a 'mild tbi' diagnosis - even though there was significant overlap between the two groups in terms of the severity of their head injuries.  There was also a two and a half times greater likelihood that the children diagnosed with 'concussion' would go back to school early as well.
 
Dr. DeMatteo, in an article published in the Los Angeles Times was quoted as stating 'These children (the ones with a concussion diagnosis) may be sent back to school or allowed to return to activities sooner, and maybe sooner than they should.  This puts them at greater risk for a second injury, poor school performance, and wondering what is wrong with them.'

Full post as published by Traumatic Brain Injury Law Blog on January 26, 2010 (boomark / email).