Importance of head injury

Head injury is the major single cause of mortality and acquired neurological morbidity among children in developed countries. It has important consequences not only for the injured children and their families but also for society as seriously brain injured children who survive represent a significant financial burden on health, education and social service budgets.

In North America, a population-based study by Kraus et al. (1986) found that 10 per 100,000 children aged between 1 and 14 years die each year as a result of trauma to the head. In the UK, the annual mortality rate from head injury in children aged over 1 year is 5.3 per 100,000 children (Sharpies et al., 1990a). The mortality rate from childhood head injury increases with age, head injury accounting for 15% of all deaths among children aged 1–15 years and 25% of all deaths aged 5–15 years. Boys are twice as likely as girls to sustain a fatal head injury.

Head injuries also account for a considerable proportion of paediatric admissions to hospital. The North American National Head and Spincal Cord Survey found the incidence of children aged 0–14 years admitted to hospital for head injury to be 230 per 100,000 children (Kalsbeek et al., 1980), while in California, Kraus et al. (1986) reported a paediatric admission rate for head injury of 185 per 100,000 children.