Objective: To examine the impact of age on health problems related to traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Design: Case-control study using a survey instrument.
Setting: Outpatient setting of a large urban tertiary care hospital.
Participants: Young and old community dwellers with histories of TBI and control subjects matched for age.
Intervention: Structured interview using the Living Life After TBI assessment tool.
Main outcome measure: Symptom reporting on 52 potential health problems.
Results: Individuals with TBI reported significantly more overall health problems than those without TBI. Younger subjects with TBI reported more problems than their nondisabled, age-matched peers with their patterns of sleep as well as with their metabolic/endocrine, neurologic, and musculoskeletal systems.
Conclusions: Older people with TBI were more likely than nondisabled, age-matched peers to report problems with their metabolic/endocrine and neurologic systems. Younger people with TBI were more likely than older people with TBI to report difficulty falling asleep.