Magnitude of the Problem
 
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant public health problem representing a potentially catastrophic debilitating medical emergency with poor prognosis for long-term recovery. In a report entitled, Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States, the CDC reports that each year in the United States at least 1.4 million people seek medical help for a TBI, of which about 50,000 die, 235,000 are hospitalized, and 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department. TBI is one of the most common neurological disorders and a leading cause of death and disability.

Annual incidence of TBI far out numbers that of stroke (700,000 per year), breast cancer, or HIV/AIDS. However, unlike stroke where victims are predominantly over the age of 65 years, TBI inflicts all age groups with a significant peak during adolescence and early adulthood, the age group which has the greatest economic potential. The physical, social, and economic sequelae of brain injury can persist for the victim’s entire life, a burden that is borne by the individual and by society.

Direct medical costs of TBI and the costs of lost productivity that result from TBI were estimated at $56.3 billion in the United States in 1995 .Of the 1.4 million TBIs that occur annually, the vast majority, between 75 and 90% are mild or moderate(MTBI). MTBI, also called concussion, occurs when an impact or forceful motion of the head results in a brief alteration of mental status, such as confusion, disorientation, brief memory loss, or brief loss of consciousness. Because they produce a number of imprecise perceptual symptoms without diagnosable objective structural brain alterations, MTBIs are challenging to diagnose. Furthermore, many sufferers fail to recognize the potential severity and seriousness of their injury and do not seek medical attention. TBI is thus under-diagnosed and under-represented in medical statistics. However, even brief alterations in mental status can inflict profound and persistent impairment of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial functioning.