Statistics

Injury in review, 2020 edition:
​
National spotlight on causes of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) across the life course, including sports, seniors’ falls, assaults, consumer products, and more.

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Highlights from the publication:

​Deaths
  • Between 2002 and 2016, there were approximately 235 471 injury deaths, 53 200 (22.6%) of which were associated with a TBI diagnosis. TBI mortality rates rose sharply among those aged 65 years and older, and were highest for the oldest Canadians.
  • Between 2002 and 2016, rates for males decreased slightly, while female rates increased slightly. Some of the leading causes of TBI deaths were transportation collisions, falls among seniors and suicide among males.
Hospitalizations
  • Between 2006/07 and 2017/18, there were 399 376 hospitalizations for head injuries, 63% (251 504) of which involved males. Over this period, a slight increase was observed in head injury hospitalization rates in females, while a slight decrease was observed for rates in males. Falls were the leading cause of hospitalization for a head injury.

Emergency Department (ID) visits
  • Between 2002/03 and 2017/18, 5 074 239 ED visits for head injuries were recorded in Ontario and Alberta combined. For both males and females, the number of TBI ED visits has been increasing since 2009/10. Falls and sports and recreation incidents are the leading causes of ED visits for a TBI.

​An increasing trend in TBIs was observed in both males and females between 1990 and 2018.

Death and Disability: Children, Youth and Young Adults:
Acquired brain injury:
  • is the leading cause of death and disability  for Canadians under the age of 45
  • is the leading cause of death and disability  among children
​
In fact, 30 percent of all brain injuries in Canada are suffered by children and youth.
Source: Ontario Brain Injury Association (OBIA)

“Silent Epidemic”:​
Acquired brain injury (ABI) is frequently referred to as a “Silent Epidemic”:
In Ontario there are almost a half a million people living with a brain injury and 18,000 new cases are added every year. 

Acquired brain injury (ABI) is 15 times more common than spinal cord injury, 30 times more common than breast cancer and 400 times more common than HIV/AIDS. 
Source: OBIA (Ontario Brain Injury Association) Impact Report, 2012

Emergency Department Visits Ontario and Alberta: 
More than 90% of ED visits for sports-related brain injuries receive a concussion diagnosis July 26/16: Over the last 5 years, the number of emergency department (ED)  visits for sport-related brain injuries increased significantly in Ontario and Alberta.According to the newest injury and trauma data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information(CIHI), more than 9 out of 10 (94%) ED visits for sport-related brain injuries in 2014–2015 were concussion related. Furthermore, more than 6 out of 10 ED visits for sport-related brain injuries (62%) were made by males.
Hockey, cycling and football/rugby were the sports that sent the largest number of patients to the ED for brain injuries. The number of ED visits for brain injuries from hockey was almost double that from cycling, football/rugby and skiing/snowboarding. Other causes of brain injury–related ED visits included being hit by a ball.
Source: https://www.cihi.ca/en/types-of-care/specialized-services/ed-visits-for-sport-related-brain-injuries

​Emergency Department 
​visits Durham Region: 
Every two days a Durham Region resident dies as a result of an injury.
Elementary and secondary school students:
In 2011-2012, 19% of Durham Region elementary school students and 31% of secondary school students reported they had experienced a head injury in their lifetime. While the results were comparable to Ontario for elementary school students, more secondary school students experienced a head injury in their lifetime in Durham as compared to the Ontario average of 22%.

Who Suffers from a TBI?:

Traumatic Brain Injury causes and consequences permeate all areas of society, all age groups:
  • Health care systems: Medical, Rehabilitation, Mental Health, Substance Use and Abuse
  • Sports and Leisure 
  • Senior Care 
  • Emergency Service systems: Police, Fire, EMS and military
  • Justice and Correctional Systems: 40% of Female Prisoners Enter theCorrectional System with a Traumatic Brain Injury; (Dr. Angela Colantonio et al, Journal of Correctional Health Care, July 2014)
  • Homelessness:  Almost 50% of homeless men had traumatic braininjury in their lifetime, vast majority before they lost their homes; (St. Michael’s Hospital, 2014)
  • Workplaces
  • Education systems: Elementary, secondary and post-secondary

And most importantly…. families…. who must try to navigate and survive the tsunami of pain and devastation from brain injury. The ripple effect from brain injury is tremendous, as many family members become lifelong caregivers to their disabled loved ones.

Causes of Brain Injury Include:
Note: *indicates main cause of brain injury
  • *Falls
  • *Automobile collisions
  • Sports
  • Pedestrians struck by motor vehicles
  • Bicycle or recreational vehicle crashes
  • Violence (assaults, gunshot wounds, domestic violence or child abuse) 
  • Explosive blasts and combat injuries.​

Traumatic Brain Injury has been linked to:



  • Teen substance abuse
  • Teen mental health 
  • Bullying and suicide
  • Homelessness
  • Incarceration
  • Road rage and so many other personal and societal issues.