TOPLINE:
, a new study showed.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed data from approximately 9200 Medicare enrollees who were part of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), aged 65 years and older, from 2000 to 2018.
- The baseline date was the date of the first age eligible HRS core interview in the community in 2000 or later.
- Incident TBI cases came from an updated list of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), 9th and 10th edition codes, from the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center and the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch for TBI surveillance.
- Codes corresponded with emergency department, CT, and/or fMRI visits.
TAKEAWAY:
- Almost 13% of older individuals (n = 797) experienced TBI during the study, highlighting its significant prevalence in this population.
- Older adults (mean age at baseline, 75 years) who experienced TBI during the study period were more likely to be women and White individuals as well as individuals having higher levels of education and normal cognition (P < .001), challenging previous assumptions about risk factors.
- The study underscored the need for targeted interventions and research focused on TBI prevention and postdischarge care in older adults.
IN PRACTICE:
“The number of people 65 and older with TBI is shockingly high,” senior author Raquel Gardner, MD, said in a press release. “We need evidence-based guidelines to inform postdischarge care of this very large Medicare population and more research on post-TBI dementia prevention and repeat injury prevention.”
SOURCE:
The study was led by Erica Kornblith, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco. It was published online in JAMA Network Open.
LIMITATIONS:
The study’s reliance on ICD codes for TBI identification may not capture the full spectrum of TBI severity. Self-reported data on sociodemographic factors may have introduced bias, affecting the accuracy of associations with TBI incidence. In addition, the findings’ generalizability may be limited due to the study’s focus on Medicare enrollees, potentially excluding those from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute on Aging, and the Department of Defense. Disclosures are noted in the original study.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.