STATEMENT OF GRANT PURPOSE
Sonia Singh, United Kingdom, Health Economics
The Economics of Pediatric Head Injury
Economic evaluation of health care delivery is a global necessity. The U.S spends 17% of its GDP annually towards health care compared with 8-9% by Australia and the United Kingdom. In contrast, when comparing government spending of cash and services for families with children, the U.S. spends 2.4% of its GDP per child under 15 years, compared to 11.8% in the U.K. and 8.9% in Australia. As a result, families facing loss of income while caring for injured children in the U.S., have less government support in terms of cash and social assistance benefits. Economic evaluation of healthcare helps identify where limited resources like funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should be allocated to optimize cost and maximize health benefits for the targeted population. The M.Sc. program of Health Economics in the U.K. will provide an opportunity to learn from efficient health systems to identify areas for improvement both from a cost as well as the health utilization perspective.
Traumatic Brain injury (TBI) is projected to be the third largest cause of global disease burden by 2020; with an estimated 10 million people affected by TBI annually worldwide.[endnoteRef:1] A concussion is the most common form of TBI and is particularly prevalent among children and young adults. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported an annual estimated
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a type of injury that is a critical public health and socio-economic problem. TBI is a leading cause of death and disability in both children and adults [5]. The Centers for Disease Control and
Attention for traumatic brain injury has grown over the years and programs have been created to help try and prevent the injuries. As this is an injury to the brain the literature is vast with insight into what part of the brain injured resulted in what change in the individual. Children and athletics have been the main focus in recent years for studies as research have shown that undiagnosed injuries can have long lasting effects.
Concussions are a rising issue in the daily life of many athletes in the sports of hockey, soccer, football, and skateboarding. Every 21 seconds, someone in this country encounters a brain injury. Concussions are brain injuries caused by jolts or hard hits around the head. When the tissue of the brain slams against the strong, thick skull in your head, a concussion is very common. This leads to either swelling of the brain, “torn blood vessels, or injury to the nerves.” (Haas) Eventually, the result will be immediate, delayed, or even permanent loss of your own brain. In the next four paragraphs, I will describe to you how a concussion is important to you and others, what the world can do to stop this issue, and what you can do to prevent
The treatment for a concussion used to be as simple as taking time to rest, or smelling bath salts before returning to play. In today’s world, concussions are more appropriately recognized as a serious head injury. In order to correctly diagnose and treat concussions, professional action needs to occur. Preventative measures, proper assessments and diagnosis, correct treatments, and increasing awareness are a few ways to reduce an issue down to a more manageable position. Concussions are a common threat in many aspects of life today. From contact sports to accidental falls, head injuries are an increasing issue that needs to be recognized as such. Two to four million concussion injuries occur from sports and recreation settings in the United States every year (The American Academy of Neurology). Most of these injuries result in a full recovery, but there are people who are left with dehabilitating injuries for the remainder of their lives. Thankfully it is becoming well known that these problems exist, and many people are starting to take action.
There are a countless number of students in high school and college throughout all of the U.S. that participate in sports and physical activities. High school sports are a fun and enjoyable way for young adults to compete and play in an organized setting. Many of these sports involve a copious amount of risk for injury. There are preventative measures to a certain extent in most sports to limit the risk of injury as much as possible. There are an umpteen number of injuries that one can sustain during the participation of sports. One of these injuries that should be put on the radar is the concussion. Concussions and serious brain injuries
Concussions are a very frightening and dangerous injury. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury in which your brain rattles around in your skull. When you sustain a concussion, your brain may jolt as a result from the impact. This form of brain injury can cause bruising, damage to the blood vessels, and injury to the nerves. Concussions are the most common brain injury. Although concussions are the least serious, they should not be taken lightly. Back in the day, people were unaware of concussions and the symptoms associated with them. As a result, people today especially former athletes are dying from past concussions. (Cantu, R. & Hyman M., 2012) Many people have seen, heard of, or had a concussion and they are relevant to everyone’s life.
In the united states over 170 million adults participate in physical activities, including sports which can have a greater impact on unorganized sports because most of the time there not properly trained and just go for what they know and injure themselves 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions occur in recreational activities annually. However, this vastly underestimates total concussions, as many individuals suffering from mild or moderate concussions do seek medical advice... Many of these activities are associated with an increased risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI). In the united States, an estimated 1.7 million people sustain a TBI annually, associated with 1.365 million emergency room visits and 275,000 hospitalizations annually with associated direct and indirect cost estimated to have been $60 billion in the United states in 2000, So concussions are not only taken a big toll on someone’s life but also their pockets.
A concussion is defined as “a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells”. A concussion is considered a mild form of a traumatic brain injury; however, it can still cause serious short and long-term complications and risks; especially because of the more vulnerable brain of a pediatric victim. Children are at a higher risk for concussions and have a higher risk of more devastating effects because of the developing brain. Sports related concussions are
Health professionals will often interchange between the two terms, concussion and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), when discussing this health condition (Halstead, Walter, Council on Sports, & Fitness, 2010). A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury resulting from a traumatic event which causes the affected individual to experience temporary neurological deficits, these are a result of “biomechanical forces” that have reached the head taking effect on the brain (Jordan, 2013; Paul McCrory et al., 2009; Silver, McAllister, & Yudofsky, 2011). This type of injury usually presents with multiple post concussive symptoms, although in some cases these symptoms do not present themselves until later (Paul McCrory et al., 2009), in which can result in the concussion going unnoticed.
Sports hold tremendous value in American society and all athletes have at least one thing in common: the risk of getting a concussion. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from a direct/indirect action or force that causes the brain to shake rapidly within the skull (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). This injury can mildly or severely affect the brain’s function by damaging brain cells and producing chemical alterations (CDC, 2016). Throughout the years, concussions have been more prevalent not only in professional sports, but among youth, college, and recreational sports as well. Despite the remarkably high statistics on concussions in the U.S., many cases still go unreported (Groce & Urankar, 2016, p. 22). Sustaining this injury can significantly set a person back physically, mentally, and emotionally. Due to the risks and health issues associated with concussions doctors, athletic trainers, coaches, and lawmakers are getting involved to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.
In medical terms, concussions are described as "a complex pathophysiologic process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces" (Hunt, Paniccia, Reed, & Keightley, 2016, p. 749). Over the past couple of years, the number of concussions in athletics has increased drastically. According to the data released by the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, in the school year 2005-06 there were 133,000 concussions, which was much less than the recent data of the 2014-15 school year of 292,000 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Not only are concussions becoming more prominent, but they accounted for 24.5% of all the injuries in 2014-15 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Although many advances in concussion protocol have been
When I think of Brain related injuries in sports my mind automatically gravitates towards football. As for most Americans that's the case the hard-hitting contact sport is a household name the NFL (National football league). In actuality concussions are very common in every sport such as MLB, NBA, NHL, Boxing, UFC and the lost goes on. Unfortunately up until recently most sports did not see the negative long-term side effects that concussions can leave on the human brain. One of the more recent things that has spiked tremendous interest in concussions is seeing the long term affects itcan leave on the
Many private companies and researchers have taken the issue of concussions head on. Research has drastically increased throughout the 21st century. In the words of Mark Lovell PhD. founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, “90% of what we know about concussions we’ve learned in the past five years.” These private researchers have taken different approaches to solving the issue but they are all working to achieve one goal: the reduction of concussions and the prevention of their long-term effects.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), or intracranial injury, is a medical diagnosis which refers to closed or penetrative damage to the brain that is caused by an external source. Every year, TBIs affect approximately 150-250 people in a population of 100,000 (León-Carrión, Domínguez-Morales, Martín, & Murillo-Cabezas, 2005). The leading causes of TBI are traffic accidents, work injuries, sports injuries, and extreme violence (León-Carrión et al., 2005). TBI is most often fatal when the cause is an injury due to the use of firearms, a traffic accident, or a long fall (León-Carrión et al., 2005). However, fatality rates and rates of occurrence differ in various countries due to
Traumatic Brain Injury is otherwise known as TBI. “Traumatic brain injury, a form of acquired brain injury, occurs when sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. TBI can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue” (NINDS, 2010). There are two main types of TBI, closed head injuries such as head hitting a windshield and penetrating head injuries such as a gunshot wound. As reported by the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation,” The severity of traumatic brain injuries is often assessed using the Glasgow Coma Scale, with scores ranging from 3 to 15. The higher the score,