Objective: To measure the incidence of traumatic head or brain injury in the catchment area of the Academic Hospital Maastricht (AZM), the Netherlands.
Design: Retrospective.
Method: Data were collected about head injury patients who visited the emergency room of the AZM in 1997 by separate forms that were filled out for each patient who came to the emergency room. Data were added from admission records and radiology records. The AZM had a catchment area of approximately 231,000 people.
Results: The emergency room was attended by 1933 patients with traumatic head or brain injury. Head trauma without signs of brain injury was diagnosed in 1440 patients (74%) mild brain injury in 467 (24%) and moderate or severe brain injury in 26 (1%). The mean age was 30 years (range: 0-97) and 29% of all patients were below the age of 15. Two-thirds (67%) of patients were male. An X-ray of the skull was performed in 15% of the cases. In 7% of these X-rays a relevant abnormality was found. Eleven per cent of patients were admitted for observation. The incidence rate of traumatic head or brain injury in 1997 was 836/100,000 and the incidence of admission 88/100,000. The causes were a fall (43%), traffic accident (22%), violence (15%), sports injuries (7%), accidents during work (4%), or other/unknown (9%).
Conclusion: Most patients with head or brain injury had mild injuries (99%, sole head injury or mild brain injury). Compared with other studies, the annual frequency of hospital admissions was low.