Numbers about CP

• More than 1/2 of children with CP have bilateral spastic paraparesis (leg weakness)
• There are more boys born with Cerebral Palsy than girls (for every 100 girls there are 135 boys)
• About 1/2 of children with CP are born prematurely.
• 1 in 9 people with CP have features of Autism.
• 1 in 4 people with CP have epileptic seizures.
• 6 out of 10 people with CP have normal or superior intelligence.
• 1 in 11 children with CP are legally blind.
• About 3 of 10 children with CP have severe learning disabilities.
• 1 in 50 children with CP are deaf.
• 1 in 20 children with CP have tremor and ataxia.
• 1 in 3 children with CP cannot walk.
• 1 in 4 children with CP cannot feed or dress themselves

TBI: designed for young children

engraving

A year ago a post about traumatic brain injury TBI statistics in children was published. Occasionally, yesterday I saw pictures from The Book of Accidents: designed for young children. It was published in 1831. This masterpiece is illustrated by numerous possibilities to be killed of severely injured. I believe that little readers were impressed for the entire life. As far as most of the engravings demonstrate other 'young children' causing traumas to their friends on purpose, some readers could definitely use the knowledge acquired from the book for causing accidents and not for avoiding them.

Many illustrations are related to TBI, following disability, motor disorders, and, possibly, rehabilitation.

TBI statistics in children

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), also called acquired brain injury or simply head injury, occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. TBI can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue.

The term TBI is used for head injuries that can cause changes in one or more areas, such as:
- thinking and reasoning,
- understanding words,
- remembering things,
- paying attention,
- solving problems,
- thinking abstractly,
- talking,
- behaving,
- walking and other physical activities,
- seeing and/or hearing, and

- learning.

The term TBI is not used for a person who is born with a brain injury. It also is not used for brain injuries that happen during birth.

More than one million children receive brain injuries each year in the USA (almost half of all TBIs). More than 30,000 of these children have lifelong disabilities as a result of the brain injury.

Among children ages 0 to 14 years, TBI results in an estimated
- 2,685 deaths;
- 37,000 hospitalizations; and
- 435,000 emergency department visits.

These count only cases seen in an emergency department, but not with light damage.

• Individuals age 15 to 24 have the highest risk of TBI.
• Falls are the leading cause of TBI; rates are highest for children ages 0 to 4 years.
• The rate of motor vehicle-traffic-related TBI is highest among adolescents ages 15 to 19 years.

• Child abuse is the cause of 64% of all infant head injuries
• Approximately 1 in 500 school-age children each year receive a head injury severe enough to be hospitalized
• 1 million children sustain a head injury each year
• 165,000 children will be hospitalized due to a head injury
• 1 in 10 of those children hospitalized will suffer moderate to severe impairments

Source: Langlois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nation Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2006.

Kraus, J. F, and MacArthur, D. L. (1996) Epidemiologic Aspects of Brain Injury. Neurologic Clinics, 14(2): 435-450.