One in eight U.S. seniors will be treated for a traumatic brain injury as they age, Medicare data show Women, white people, the healthy and the well-off were at higher risk for a concussion requiring treatment However, many people with a concussion don’t seek care FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- About one in eight U.
S. seniors will be treated for a traumatic brain injury, typically during a , a new study finds. Medicare data shows that about 13% of seniors suffered a severe concussion during an average follow-up period of 18 years, researchers report.
Although these injuries can be treated, they increase the risk of serious conditions like dementia, Parkinson’s disease, seizures, heart disease, depression and anxiety, they added. “The number of people 65 and older with TBI is shockingly high,” said senior researcher , a neurologist with the Sheba Medical Center in Israel. For the study, researchers tracked about 9,200 Medicare enrollees with an average age of 75.
Women, white people, the healthier and the well-off appear at higher risk of concussion, according to the data -- a finding that runs counter to prior research. For example, about 64% of people who had a traumatic brain injury were female, even though women represented 58% of the total group studied, researchers said. Likewise, about 84% of people in the total group were white, but whites represented 89% of concussions, results show.
About 31% of those with traumatic brain injury were in the top 25% .
