March is Brain Injury
Awareness Month
Brain
Injury: As Diverse As We Are is the theme for the 2007 Brain Injury
Awareness Month campaign, which is dedicated to helping the public learn
more about brain injury, and to improving the lives of those individuals
living with brain injury and their family and caregivers.
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) contribute to a substantial number of
deaths and permanent disability each year. CDC estimates that at least
5.3 million Americans—about 2% of the U.S. population—currently have a
long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily
living due to TBI. Each year in this country, at least 1.4 million
persons sustain a TBI.1,2 Lifetime costs of TBI totaled $60 billion in
2000—this includes direct medical and indirect costs such as lost
productivity.3
In recognition of Brain Injury Awareness Month and in response to this
important public health problem, the Brain Injury Association of
America, through the support of CDC, is offering educational kits about
living with brain injury.
This year’s Brain Injury Awareness Month materials include:
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Five booklets that provide information for persons with brain injury and their families and caregivers
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Fact sheets that describe the experiences of four persons who sustained brain injuries
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A poster that depicts the diversity of the causes of brain injuries and the persons affected by them
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CDC’s “Facts about Traumatic Brain Injury” fact sheet
To order or download this
year’s Brain Injury Awareness Month materials or for more information about
Brain Injury Awareness Month, please visit the Brain Injury Association of
America’s website at
www.biausa.org/media.htm#March, or telephone the National Brain Injury
Information Center at 1-800-444-6443.
To learn more about CDC’s TBI-related activities, educational materials, and
research, please visit
www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/TBI.htm.
References
1. Thurman D, Alverson C, Dunn K, Guerrero J, Sniezek J. Traumatic brain
injury in the United States: a public health perspective. J Head Trauma
and Rehabil 1999;14:60215.
2. Langlois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE. Traumatic brain injury in the
United States: emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services (US), Centers for
Disease Control, and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and
Control; 2004.
3. Finkelstein E, Corso P, Miller T and associates. The incidence and
economic burden of Injuries in the United States. New York (NY): Oxford
University Press; 2006.
Page last modified: May 16, 2007