Injuries can be seen as the culprit when it comes to deaths caused by accidents. However, in a thirty-year study by the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, the head injury seems to take the lead.
The study posits that adults who suffered head injuries had twice the mortality rate than those who did not. Furthermore, the mortality rates recorded among those with moderate to severe injuries were thrice higher.
Head Injury – Causes and Effects
More than twenty-three million adults at least 40 years old in the United States have a history of head injury with loss of consciousness. This head injury can result from different things, ranging from sports injuries to unintentional falls and motor vehicle crashes. Moreover, long-term health challenges such as disability, stroke, dementia, and late-onset epilepsy have been linked with a head injury.
Effect on Long-Term Mortality Rate: The Findings
In previous studies, hospitalized patients witnessed an increased short-term mortality rate linked to head injuries. This study, which evaluated more than 13,000 community-dwelling respondents, focused on the effect of head injuries on long-term mortality rates in adults. Researchers found that 18.4 percent of the population studied had at least one head injury during the study period.
Meanwhile, out of that number, 12.4 were documented as moderate or severe. The study also found an average of 4.7 years between the time the injury occurred and the patient’s death. Overall, there was a 64.6 percent mortality rate among individuals who suffered a head injury and 54.6 among those who did not.
The statistics gathered showed that participants with a head injury had a 2.21 mortality rate than those without. Additionally, those with severe head injuries had a 2.87 more mortality rate than those who did not suffer any head injury.
Cause of Death in Participants with a Head Injury
The study’s data revealed a relationship between head injuries and increased long-term mortality rates. The results further enforce the utmost importance of safety measures to prevent head injuries – such as wearing helmets.
Meanwhile, the researchers evaluated the data obtained to determine the specific cause of death among the participants. The most common causes included neurologic disorders like epilepsy, dementia, stroke, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. For individuals who suffered head injuries, neurological disorders and accidental injuries such as falls caused death more frequently.
However, the specific neurologic causes of death, as evaluated by the researchers, were attributed to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. They discovered nearly two-thirds of neurologic death cases resulting from these neurodegenerative diseases. They had the highest percentage of overall deaths among individuals who suffered head injuries (14.2 percent).
The setback of the study was that the data obtained could not explain why neurodegenerative diseases caused more deaths in participants with head injuries. As such, there is a need for further study on the relationship between these neurological disorders, head injury, and mortality rates.
Conclusion
Car accidents happen daily and at any time, even when drivers are doing all they can to prevent one. While some drivers walk away with no injuries, others are not so fortunate. According to the study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, there is a higher mortality rate among accident victims, adults above 40, who sustained head injuries.
Going further into analyzing the data obtained, the study found that neurodegenerative diseases were the most common causes of death. This data reiterates the need to always protect oneself by taking safety measures such as using a seatbelt or wearing a helmet.
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