Because traumatic brain injury (TBI) among teens is a health concern, researchers set out to determine how many teenagers have experienced a TBI in their lifetime or within the last year. According to a 2011 Canadian survey, 8,915 students in grades seven through twelve filled out anonymous questionnaires regarding a TBI.
The questionnaire defined a TBI as “an acquired head injury in which the student was unconscious for at least 5 minutes or hospitalized overnight.” The survey results found the following:
- 20% of teenagers reported having a traumatic brain injury during their lifetime
- 5.6% of teens indicated that their TBI occurred within the last 12 months
- More than half of traumatic brain injuries that occurred within the previous 12 months were a result of a sports injury
- Boys were more common than girls to have a TBI as a result of a sports injury
- Teens who also reported occasional to frequent alcohol and drug use had a greater risk for TBI than those teens who abstained
- Teens with poorer grades had a significantly higher risk for TBI
The findings of this survey were published in the June 26 issue of JAMA. Although this was a Canadian study, the information about teens and traumatic brain injuries reveal that teenagers throughout the United States probably are at the same risk levels for developing a TBI.
If your teenage son or daughter suffered a brain injury in Georgia due to someone else’s negligence, you may have legal rights. In order to find out if your teen has a valid case, talk with a skilled Peachtree City brain injury lawyer at Shane Smith Law at (770) 487-8999 today.
