Content area
Full Text
About the Authors:
Marek Majdan
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Work, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia
ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8037-742X
Dominika Plancikova
Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Work, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia
Andrew Maas
Affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Antwerp University Hospital and University of Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium
ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1612-1264
Suzanne Polinder
Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Valery Feigin
Affiliation: National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neuroscience, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Alice Theadom
Affiliation: National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neuroscience, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Martin Rusnak
Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Work, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia
ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3321-1042
Alexandra Brazinova
Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Work, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia
Juanita Haagsma
Affiliations Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Department of Emergency Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2055-548XAbstract
Introduction
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are a major public health, medical, and societal challenge globally. They present a substantial burden to victims, their families, and the society as a whole. Although indicators such as incidence or death rates provide insight into the occurrence and outcome of TBIs in various populations, they fail to quantify the full extent of their public health and societal impact. Measures such as years of life lost (YLLs), which quantifies the number of years of life lost because the person dies prematurely due to a disease or injury, should be employed to better quantify the population impact. The aim of this study was to provide an in-depth analysis of the burden of deaths due to TBI by calculating TBI-specific YLLs in 16 European countries, analyzing their main causes and demographic patterns, using data extracted from death certificates under unified guidelines and collected in a standardized manner.
Methods and findings
A population-wide, cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in 16 European countries to estimate TBI YLLs for the year 2013. The data used for all analyses in this study were acquired from the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat). A specifically tailored dataset of micro-level data was provided...