📰🧠🔬 TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) STUDY HIGHLIGHTS – Longitudinal healthcare use after pediatric brain injury: A population-based birth cohort study by Chan V, Wirianto CS, Balogh R, Escobar MD.

This study investigates the rates of healthcare use from birth to 10 years after a childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related visit. The research uses a population-based birth cohort from Ontario, Canada, and a case cohort (TBI cohort) of individuals who had at least one TBI-related healthcare visit between ages 0 and 4 years (n = 26,988). Controls were generated from a sample of individuals who did not have any TBI-related healthcare visit during the study period (n = 193,253 for emergency department visits and hospitalizations, and n = 19,313 for primary care physician visits).

The primary outcome is rates of primary care physician visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for each year prior to and up to 10 years after the index TBI-related healthcare visit. Rates of healthcare use remained consistently higher in the TBI cohort compared to controls, with higher rates in males compared to females across all healthcare settings. The study suggests that longitudinal research is needed to explore the causes of sustained and increased healthcare use post-injury and inform targeted health and social care interventions.

Access the full article at: Chan V, Wirianto CS, Balogh R, Escobar MD (2025). Longitudinal healthcare use after pediatric brain injury: A population-based birth cohort study. PLOS ONE 20(2): e0316165. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0316165. This is an open access article under a CC-BY license.