Dr Anthony P Stead
Prince of Wales Hospital, Australia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Neuro Neurophy
Background: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is increasingly being appreciated as a global public health and socioeconomic
concern. In the United Kingdom the economic burden of TBI has been estimated to be >£15 billion per
year from premature death and impact on survivors. Premature mortality can be quantified as the potential years of
life lost (PYLL) and â?? when compared across diseases - can inform decisions on resource allocation for prevention,
clinical care and research.
Methods: Details of all deaths registered in England and Wales from 2006 to 2015 were obtained from the Office
for National Statistics (ONS). The PYLL for working ages (16-64), 65 and 85 years was calculated for TBI and other
major, non-traumatic neurological diseases for comparison â?? these were: Motor Neurone Disease; Cerebrovascular
Disease; Multiple Sclerosis and Malignant Brain Tumours. This calculation was based on the age an individual died
and their predicted, age-adjusted on-going life expectancy.
Results: TBI (defined as ICD 10 code S00-S09) was implicated in 33,006 deaths over this period, accounting for
561,000 PYLL before the age of 65. Cerebrovascular disease had a lower PYLL before the age of 65 (318,000), despite
having a significantly higher total number of deaths (404,017) over the same period.
Over the 10 year period we estimate the ‘lost productivity’ due to fatal TBIs alone to be £5.3 billion.
Conclusion: Using PYLL, this study has highlighted an under-appreciated aspect of traumatic injury. This approach
helps to comprehend the TBI burden to wider society particularly the economic impact
Anthony Stead is a Senior Resident Medical Officer in Emergency Medicine at Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia. He trained in the UK at the University of London, St. George’s Hospital Medical School and spent several years in the UK before moving to Australia. He has contributed to several original research publications and is currently working on a publication with Professor Fiona Lecky, the Research Director of the Trauma Audit and Research Network - the largest Trauma Registry in Europe
E-mail: ant.pstead@gmail.com
