Report to Congress on mild traumatic brain injury in the United States

In recent decades, public health and health care communities have become increasingly aware that the consequences of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) may not, in fact, be mild. Epidemiologic research has identified MTBI as a public health problem of large magnitude, while clinical research has provided evidence that these injuries can cause serious, lasting problems.
In response to public health concerns, Congress passed the Children’s Health Act of 2000, which required the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to determine how best to measure the rate at which new cases of MTBI occur (i.e., incidence) and the proportion of the U.S. population at any given time that is experiencing the effects of a MTBI (i.e., prevalence) and to report the findings to Congress. To that end, CDC formed the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Work Group, composed of experts in the field of brain injury, to determine appropriate and feasible methods for assessing the incidence and prevalence of MTBI in the United States.
This report presents the significant findings and recommendations of the members of the CDC MTBI Work Group, which are the product of numerous discussions and a thorough review of the scientific literature. It describes the public health significance of MTBI and recommends how to better measure the magnitude of the problem of MTBI in this country.