People in West Virginia who have suffered a traumatic brain injury and who are less mobile or who have less community participation may have higher mortality rates than those who are more mobile and social. These were among the findings of a study that appeared in 2017 in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation.

Researchers, including several from regional TBI model systems, examined data from the TBI Model System National Data and Statistical Center. With data on more than 10,000 controls and 1,163 people who had died, researchers identified five major outcomes in the areas of psychosocial, cognitive and physical health. These were scales for disability rating and satisfaction with life, a functional independence measure, a participation assessment with recombined tool objective, and an extended Glasgow Outcome Scale.

According to researchers, higher mortality rates were correlated with higher scores in all of these areas, with particular emphasis on the mobility and social scales. However, researchers said the results indicated a need for further study of how the mortality of people with a TBI is influenced by both lifestyle and health. One researcher said that if more risk factors that could be modified are identified, there could be more opportunity to prevent those factors or to intervene and stop them. This would improve not just the lives of the people with a TBI but their caregivers’ lives as well.

If a person is in an accident and suffers a traumatic brain injury, compensation from the party responsible can also be significant in improving the quality of the victim’s life and treatment for the injury. Unfortunately, in some cases, getting this compensation can be a struggle. There could be delayed brain damage after an injury, meaning that symptoms do not show up immediately.