Traumatic brain injury in Rhode Island.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain. In the United States, 1.4 million individuals sustain a TBI per year. Of those, 235,000 are hospitalized, 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department and 50,000 die.2 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 5.3 million people who sustained a TBI need assistance with daily living activities and incur direct and indirect medical costs totaling an estimated $60 billion.3 On July 1, 2007, the Rules and Regulations Pertaining to the Rhode Island Traumatic Brain Injury Registry of the General Laws of Rhode Island became effective. The Regulations mandate hospitals within the State to report to the Department of Health within fourteen days of diagnosis all cases of TBI diagnosed through inpatient and emergency departments. As part of this notification, hospitals were required to send the following data: principal diagnosis, cause of injury, place of incident, type of discharge, dates of admission/discharge and patient demographics including name, address, social security number, date of birth, gender, ethnicity and race. This report describes the incidence, principal diagnosis and the leading cause of TBI in Rhode Island using the first full year of the TBI registry data.